China’s push to educate people out of poverty starts with free school
- Delivering a brighter future in Liangshan hinges largely on the belief that education is key to stopping poverty passing to the next generation
- In this remote mountainous prefecture, 1.2 million pupils get free education for 15 years from kindergarten
Shenzi Nibumu is two years older than her classmates in the southwest Chinese province of Sichuan.
Her family was too poor to send her to school at the age most children start and her elder sister dropped out of school to become a migrant worker in Guangdong province to support the family.
Shenzi Nibumu is now 17 years old and in ninth grade – the third year of middle school. She said she did not want to follow her sister’s path by dropping out to get a job, and instead wanted to continue with her studies and go to university.
“I wish to go to medical school and become a doctor in Liangshan,” she said. “My father used to be very sick. And I was very touched by the doctors who travelled to Hubei to treat Covid-19 patients earlier this year.”
Shenzi Nibumu can now focus on her study without worrying about how much it costs thanks to a policy in Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture to provide free education and subsidised accommodation to students.