E-MAIL
On March 22, Education Minister Chen Baosheng held a leading group meeting to summarize the achievements made in poverty alleviation through education over the past eight years and discuss measures to be taken in the next stage to facilitate smooth transition from poverty eradication to rural rejuvenation.
Chen summed up five remarkable results achieved in poverty relief through education. First, the implementation of the anti-poverty policy with unique Chinese characteristics ensured the consistent and continuous delivery of targeted support to poverty-stricken regions in line with their local conditions. Second, the number of dropouts from registered impoverished families was reduced to zero. Third, the education system in poor regions was fundamentally improved, providing strategic support for rural rejuvenation by expanding the talent pool. Fourth, an effective and replicable “education for development” model was established and enhanced through practice. Fifth, the poverty relief work itself proved to be a rewarding and educational task for the great number of cadres, teachers and students who were dispatched to the poor regions.
Chen stressed that, building on the victory in ending extreme poverty, the rural rejuvenation strategy should be rolled out across the country to further promote the development of the less-developed regions. He proposed a four-point plan for this task: 1) promoting common prosperity with an enhanced focus on education equity; 2) facilitating quality-oriented talent cultivation as a means to stop the intergenerational transmission of poverty; 3) maintaining the dropout rate at zero and ensuring balanced and quality rural education; and 4) making a good start in implementing the rural rejuvenation strategy by developing sound annual targets and rational focus of work.