Agricultural school opens for remote villagers

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Access to education is one of the key factors in China’s efforts to alleviate poverty. To fulfill that goal, a growing number of agricultural schools have been set up in the vast rural areas, providing villagers with skill-sets and practices for free.

In a small village named Songguanmiao in southwest China’s Sichuan Province, such training is helping the locals head towards a better life.

The training is usually held in the field, and most villagers are desperate for the chance to learn.

An agricultural school was set up last year in Songguanmiao village in Santai County in southwest China’s Sichuan Province. /CGTN Photo

For local villager Li Yisheng, training in how to grow new cash crops means more income and productivity. He said he had attended dozens of courses like this in the past year.

Li’s village is hoping to get out of poverty line – hitting more than 3,500 yuan in annual income per person. To reach the goal, a public training school was set up last year to educate villagers in various areas.

For remote villages like Songguanmiao, the introduction of advanced techniques is important, and they're helping the local agricultural schools to open more channels.

At least 70 courses are provided, including cultivation techniques, driving skills, and job counseling. The biggest concern for the school is to help villagers to grasp these skills.

Learning of agricultural skills extends from the field practice to the class lectures and discussions with many local villagers participating. / CGTN Photo

Li Xiaozhong, the headmaster of the local agricultural school, said that they could teach villagers new skills step-by-step in the field, and create a good interactive environment for them to understand. Such training could only be provided two to three times in a month now due to lack of funds, and Li Xiaozhong hoped there could be more in the future.

For villagers, the agricultural schools not only teach them technical skills but also allows them to be even more firmly grounded in life.

Li Yisheng said the school also enlighten their social awareness. Now, young people find they can connect with the older generation, and few villagers have started to do more meaningful things with their free time.

The school also opens at night, with participants attending lectures and discussions on what they have learned in the field in the daytime.

Li Yinsheng said this was truly a good way to help people get out of poverty. As a saying goes -- give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.

1418km