Foundation for A Better Life Better education helps mountain villagers break the inter-generational cycle of poverty

ethnic boy had little chance to learn and speak Chinese in the past. After studying in Wenchang Middle School from 2019, with the help of his teacher, his Chinese improved significantly.

This is not a rare phenomenon. The Yi people in Liangshan use their ethnic language in their daily lives. Many children had not learned Chinese before entering primary school. And even after language lessons, many are unable to speak Chinese well and can’t follow their teachers, thus losing interest in studying. This will also be hindrance for them to find jobs in big cities.

In May 2018, Liangshan Prefecture launched the pilot project “Preschoolers Learn Chinese,” establishing 3,895 village kindergartens. Around 300,000 preschoolers went to Chinese classes.

“The improvement of language skills brings self-confidence to the children in Liangshan and improves their academic performance,” Shen told Chinafrica. “It allows them to have more chance to understand the world outside the mountains.”

To improve education quality, Liangshan is also supporting local teachers, by increasing their salaries.

In the past five years, Liangshan recruited more than 13,000 teachers. A monthly living allowance of not less than 400 yuan ($59) was distributed to 17,303 rural teachers in 11 counties inhabited by ethnic minorities, in an effort to keep rural teachers from seeking greener pastures elsewhere, according to Zhang Lantao, Deputy Director of the Education Department of Sichuan Province.

On September 4, the guidelines published by China’s Ministry of Education (MOE) said that the average salaries of teachers working in rural areas should be no lower than the average salaries of civil servants in the same region. Additional payments will be provided for teachers of rural smallscale schools and boarding schools, as well as those working in areas with large ethnic-minority populations and in impoverished and remote areas, according to a set of guidelines to boost the number and quality of teachers in rural areas.

Good learning environment

Liangshan children also enjoy better meals. In the past, students usually cooked potatoes and corn cobs over charcoal fires for lunch.

However, now they have nutritious lunch in a clean canteen for free. In Wenchang Middle School, a kitchen with refrigerators and disinfection equipment helps provide a safe environment and lunches including rice, vegetables, eggs and meat for all students.

Since the fall term of 2011, the MOE has implemented a plan for improving the nutrition of rural students receiving compulsory education, and provided them with a subsidy of 3 yuan ($0.42) per person per day, which rose to 4 yuan ($0.59) in November 2014.

Liangshan has also upgraded school facilities. “Previously, when I studied in the village, the school was old and dilapidated, and all we had was a blackboard and chalk. I envied those urban students on TV who could attend classes in multi-media classrooms,” Shama Wuzhimu, a ninth-grade student in Wenchang Middle School, told Chinafrica.

However, now in her new school, each classroom is equipped with projectors, a big LED screen and other technology. “I feel happy studying in this environment,” Shama said. “This new building looks the same as those in big cities.”

“Advanced teaching equipment allows children to experience vivid teaching methods and arouse their interest in seeking knowledge,” said Shen.

According to official data from Liangshan Poverty Alleviation and Development Bureau, in the past five years, Liangshan has consolidated various funds of 9.075 billion yuan ($1.34 billion), built 32 new schools, renovated and expanded 2,053 dilapidated schools, added 1.882 million square meters of sports grounds, and added 4.5 million books in school libraries.

Increasing skills

Secondary vocational schools have played an instrumental role in China’s poverty alleviation plans, helping upskill and integrate young people into the labor market and providing high quality technical skills.

In Xiaoshan Village, Mianshan Town, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, a night school was established by the local government in 2016 to hold cooking, Yi embroidery, and agricultural technology training, to help villagers master skills as a way to boost employment and fight poverty.

In this school, farmers could learn electric welding, housekeeping and nursing, cooking, crop farming, and breeding skills, with lecturers coming from a variety of professions. Although called a night school, the classes are not just taught in the evening. The school has formulated corresponding teaching courses in accordance with the agricultural production regulations of the village. The classrooms are set in the fields, or on the farms of cooperatives.

Rama Wusha, an agricultural technician, also a lecturer at the school, started to teach in 2016, and he felt that the biggest change villagers made was to believe in science.

“At first the villagers were very skeptical that vaccinating livestock could prevent diseases, because the livestock had an allergic reaction for a short time after vaccination,” Rama said. “But in the second year, almost no vaccinated livestock died of illness, so everyone began to accept the vaccine, and believe in what was being taught at the night school.” Now all the livestock in the small village are vaccinated.

Currently more than 1,500 people have been trained, and more than 200 people have obtained special operation qualification certificates, helping the people enhance their ability to become rich. On November 17, Sichuan Province announced that its last seven impoverished counties in Liangshan have been officially lifted out of poverty. CA

Advanced teaching equipment allows children to experience vivid teaching methods and arouse their interest in seeking knowledge. SHEN DEPING Principal of the Wenchang Middle School in Yuexi County, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province