Theaimofourprogramisnotonlytohelpruralstudentsgetoutofpovertythrougheducation,butalsotoofferthemawaytointegrateintosociety.
QuMingcai,PrincipalofUrumqiNo.66MiddleSchool
FormostchildreninChina,transitioningtomiddleschoolisasimplematterofwalkingafewextrablocksatmost.Butfor14-year-oldTajinsaAbuduany,aneighth-graderinUrumqi,switchingschoolsmeantmoving1,500kmawayfromherhome.
TheyounggirllefthervillagenearKashgar,innorthwestChina鈥檚XinjiangUygurAutonomousRegion,toattendschoolintheregionalcapitalofUrumqi.Exceptforafewweeksinsummer,shespendstherestoftheyearlivingandstudyingwithherpeersinhernewhome:No.66MiddleSchool.
AlthoughleavinghervillagewasatoughchoiceforAbuduany,sheisdeterminedtogothedistance,assheknowsthateducationisthekeythatcanopenthedoortoopportunitiesforherandherfamily.
Qualityeducation
AbuduanyisoneoftheparticipantsofauniqueeducationalprogramlaunchedinSeptember2004bythelocalgovernment.TheprogramenableschildrenfromthemostremoteandpoorestareasofXinjiangtoentersomeofthebestmiddleschoolsintheregion,empoweringthemtopursuetheireducationinbetterdevelopedpartsofChina.
UrumqiNo.66MiddleSchoolhasbeendesignatedasoneofthepilotschoolsoftheprogram.Itnowhastwocampuseswith61classrooms,hosting3,400studentsfrom13ethnicgroups.
Togetherwithherclassmates,AbuduanywishestofurtherpursuehereducationinoneofChina鈥檚majorcitiessuchasBeijing,ShanghaiandShenzhenaftergraduationfromthemiddleschool.鈥淯rumqiNo.66MiddleSchoolisoneofthebestschoolsinthecity.StudyingherewillmakeiteasierformetoenterthebestuniversitiesinChinaandgetmoreprofessionalopportunities,鈥漵hetoldChinAfrica.
Farfromherfamily,Abuduanyhasdevelopedclosetieswithherteachers,someofwhomalsoliveintheschool.Moreover,shehasaccesstoclubsofallkinds,fromchessanddancetomusicandsport.Anddespitethetop-notchqualityofthesefacilities,theyounggirlandherfamilydidn鈥檛havetopayacentintuitionfees.
鈥淭hegovernmentfundstheentireprogram,includingtuition,housing,mealsandstationery,forabout8,000yuan($1,178)perstudentperyear,鈥漄uMingcai,PrincipalofNo.66MiddleSchool,toldChinAfrica.
Today,theprogramcoversabout30schoolsin13citiesinXinjiang,with10,600enrolledstudentsin2016.AccordingtoQu,almost90percentofthestudentsinhisschoolcomefromethnicminoritiesinsouthernandeasternXinjiang,suchasKashgarandTurpan.Lessthan10percentofthestudentsareHanpeople.
AccordingtofigurespublishedbytheEducationDepartmentofXinjiang,nearly43,000studentshavegraduatedfromthisprogramasofJuly2016.
鈥淎bout98percentofourgraduatesgoontoseniorhighschoolsandprestigiousuniversitiesinmajorcitiessuchasBeijingandShanghai,wheretheybenefitfrombettereducation,鈥漄usaid.Aftergraduatingfromuniversities,manyofthegraduatescomebacktotheirhomeregionasengineers,doctors,teachersorcivilservants,headded.
StudentsinUrumqiNo.66MiddleSchoolZHUXINGXIN/CHINADAILY
Widervision
Thejuniormiddleschoolhastakenonthetaskofovercomingethnicandlinguisticdifferences.ManyoftheUygurandKazakfreshmenhavelittleknowledgeofMandarin.Infact,coursesinlocalprimaryschoolsareusuallygiveninlocallanguages,duetoashortageofteachersmasteringMandarin.Thiswillinfluencetheirfurtherstudieswhentheyleavetheirhometown.
鈥淣o.66MiddleSchooloffersMandarinclassesforfreshmen.Othersubjects,suchasmathematicsandscience,arealsotaughtinMandarintobetterpreparestudentsfortheirfuturestudies,鈥漵aidtheprincipal.
AbuduanydidnotspeakawordofMandarinbeforesteppingintotheschool.However,afteronlyoneyearinUrumqi,theyoungUygurwomanhasnowmasteredthelanguage.Shehascomealongwaysinceherarrival,whenshefelttooshytospeakMandarin.
鈥淚wantedtotalk,butIwasafraidofnotbeingabletodoit.Butmyteacherhasalwaysbeenverypatientwithmeandnevergaveuponme,鈥漵hesaid.
Aftermonthsoftraining,shemanagedtowinfirstprizeinaMandarincontestattheendofherfirstsemester.Forher,languagerepresentsabridgeconnectingherwiththerestoftheworld.鈥淢andarinlanguagecanhelpmebetterintegrateintosocietyandformyfuturestudies,鈥漵hesaid.
Meanwhile,theschoolalsoprovidesclassesonlocallanguagesandethniccultures.鈥淐hildrenlive,eatandplaytogether.Webelievethisisagoodwaytopromoteharmonyandsolidarityamongethnicgroups,鈥漵aidQu.
XiongYue,aneighth-graderfromKashgar,agrees.HeisoneofthefewHanstudentsattheschool.鈥淚speakalittleUygur,andIliketolearnaboutthecultureofmyclassmates.It鈥檚easytogetstarted,aswe鈥檙ealwayshangingouttogether,鈥漢esaid.
鈥淭heaimofourprogramisnotonlytohelpruralstudentsgetoutofpovertythrougheducation,butalsotoofferthemawaytointegrateintosociety,鈥漞xplainedQu.Inthisspirit,theschoolalsopaysspecialattentiontoEnglishteaching,organizesschooloutingsandinvitesforeignexpertstogivelectures.
鈥淚nthisway,wehopethatourstudentswillbeexposedtodiverseculturalinfluencestolearnmoreandcanbebetterintegratedintosocietywhentheygrowup,鈥漢eadded.
Aftergraduating,Abuduanywantstobecomeadoctor.鈥淚wouldliketoexplorethedifferentregionsofChinaandthengoabroadtolearnforeignmedicaltechniques.Forthis,Iwillneedtobeabletocommunicateinseverallanguages,鈥漵hesaid.
Thisprogramisonlyoneofthemeasuresimplementedbythelocalgovernmentinsupportofeducationforstudentsinimpoverishedregions.SchoolingisfreeandcompulsoryfornineyearsinmostpartsofChina.AccordingtoEducationDepartmentoftheautonomousregion,startingthisSeptember,Xinjiangwillbeoneofthefewregionswherestudentsenjoy15yearsoffreeeducation,frompreschoolallthewaytoseniorhighschool.
ComparedwitheastpartofChina,Xinjiangstilllagsbehindineducation.鈥淭he15-yearfreeandcompulsoryeducationwilldefinitelypromoteeducationdevelopmentinthefuture,鈥漵aidQu.
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