Out of Poverty

Education Foremost

In August 2016, high school student Liu Kaiwen received a letter of college admission, but his family couldn’t afford to let him go. Then the local education department and bank helped him to apply for an interest-free annual student loan of RMB 8,000. As Liu’s family is officially registered as poverty-stricken, Liu was able to obtain the special RMB 8,000 subsidy the government provides to such college entrants.

This is a salient example of Jinggangshan’s strategy of eradicating poverty at the roots through education. Students from poverty-stricken families now have no fear of being forced to drop out due to insufficient funds. For example, pre-school age school children pay only half the standard tuition fees, and those attending boarding schools during compulsory education stage (elementary and junior high schools) are eligible for an extra annual subsidy of RMB 500.

Senior high school students from impoverished families are exempt from tuition and textbook fees, and also receive a yearly RMB 2,500 subsidy. For senior high school students enrolled in colleges and vocational schools, the government provides yearly subsidies of RMB 4,000 and RMB 2,000 respectively for two years.

Statistics show that Jinggangshan municipal government has input more than RMB 1 million towards helping 1,088 students. It also encourages people from all walks to help students arise from the mire of poverty. There are now 50 or more social projects that help students to complete their studies. They contribute more than RMB 400,000 a year in this respect, so benefiting about 1,000 students.

Jinggangshan is among the first group of cities in the country to shake off poverty. According to a third-party independent assessment, public satisfaction with poverty reduction programs stands at 99.08 percent.

Owing to different natural conditions and the specific reasons why families have fallen into poverty, relevant policies need to be adapted to various situations. Jinggangshan City’s casting off of poverty is attributable to its on-target policies that have helped those in need to rise from poverty by providing them much-needed resources and assistance.