Foreword: ESS Opens a New Chapter in a New Era -- Lungching Chiao, Vice President of ESS Chairperson, Support Education in Rural China (SERC) Executive Committee

In 2017, the government of China issued the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Administration of Activities of Overseas Non-Governmental Organizations within the Territory of China. The next summer, ESS successfully registered in Hunan province as a foreign non-governmental organization. ESS first launched its Support Education in Rural China Program Series in Hunan province more than 30 years ago. Therefore, it was only natural that we chose this province to begin our new journey into the future. In accordance with the law, ESS must operate within the province of its registration. That means some of the projects such as scholarships for rural students that once covered almost all provinces in China have to be limited to inside Hunan only.

Hunan Province is one of the largest provinces in China. It has a population of over 69 million. Besides Han, nine other minority ethnicity groups reside in this province, which constitutes approximately 10% of the total population. Most of these minority groups live in remote or mountainous areas with scarce financial and educational resources.

China has been successful in curbing rural poverty in recent years. These efforts, however, have been focused mainly on economic development. The rural areas are still far behind the cities in terms of educational resources. To eradicate poverty, we need to pay more attention to its root cause. Mr. Liang Shu-ming, a well-known educator in China, once said, “Among all inequalities, educational inequality is the cruelest.” We believe that parents are the first teachers of their children. Many children in rural areas of China were born to parents who themselves did not have an opportunity to receive a good education. Many of those parents left their homeland for the cities in pursuit of a better income to support their families. As a result, those “left-behind children” were deprived of a healthy psychological bond with their parents as well as the critical early education within their families.

The wide-spread situation of left-behind children is a byproduct of rapid economic development in China. This issue must “take a village” to address. As an NGO, ESS is committed to working with other interested parties to support those children. We tackle the problem by providing excellent books, scholarships, and diverse teacher-training opportunities to improve education in rural areas. In addition, we support extra-curricular activities for the students, including summer camps with various themes such as science, fine arts, music, and reading; we also provide nutritious lunches to elementary students. Through these activities, children have interacted with college students and teachers with specialties and a passion to teach. As the children recognized the value of their own curiosity, creativity, and imagination, they learned to value and recognize education as a stepping stone to a brighter future.

The achievement of ESS depends on the efforts of generous donors and volunteers in China and abroad. Through its various projects, ESS has built a bridge between overseas Chinese and their homeland in China. Together, we can make a difference and uplift China’s future generations.

The global COVID pandemic suspended some ESS projects in early 2020. But we are very pleased that the epidemic was under control in China by the fall of 2020. Many of our projects were able to continue as planned, such as rural libraries, scholarships, special education, and financial support for innovative teaching. We hope the pandemic will end soon, and we are confident that our endeavors will fully resume in the coming years.