Review for the Past Decade

By Education & Science Society, Inc. 1998

If you reach out, you can help someone seeking a hand; if you move forward, you can pull someone along. Compared to people in developed countries, the Chinese people are just as good in terms of intelligence, diligence, and endurance. However, the long duration of war, the lack of deployment of natural resources, the immense population, and the inadequacy of public education have left China in a dragging state of poverty and backwardness. In order to become competitive in culture, science, technology, and economy in the international arena, and to improve the living standard and people's quality, education is the essence of any solutions.

In many remote and isolated villages in China, most students find themselves impossible to go beyond what they have learned in elementary schools. This is mainly because they have no access to new knowledge and skills beyond their text books. In addition, because of insufficient family income and the lack of transportation, many kids in poor villages quit school after graduating from elementary school. Many village teachers, unfortunately, have no access to additional training. With few reference books and other resources, they can only teach what they have learned in the past.

Of course, educating the public is a major responsibility and undertaking of the government. However, in view of the present situation, it is not sufficient to rely solely on the government to provide education for the public. 80% of the population in China concentrates in the rural area. With a meager budget for education, it is very difficult to nurture the immense populace of the next generation.

The "Support Education in Rural China" (SERC) series was initiated in 1988 based on the sincere concern above and the firm belief that additional efforts, no matter how small, are desperately needed.

The SERC series were directed toward three areas: providing library books, providing scholarships, and improving teaching quality. We believe it is most cost effective to provide books to school libraries. The famous self-taught scholar, Mr. Wang Yun-Wu, once said, "If I were asked for recommendation on the facility for elementary schools, I would stress that every school must have a library!"

Providing scholarships for village teens will help children in the poor and remotely landlocked regions to continue and complete the basic middle school education. Furthermore, sponsoring multi-facet education programs can promote the exchange of ideas and experience between local and overseas educators. It also helps enhance the professional knowledge of the teachers and boost their teaching spirit.

In the past ten years, the Education and Science Society (ESS) implemented the SERC series by careful planning, fund raising, and developing a set of procedures and criteria. ESS also established a network of certified representatives in various provinces, cities, and counties in China. They were responsible for the liaison and detailed operation of the series.

In the meantime, continued support and donations came in from fellow countrymen and overseas Chinese. And, with the volunteered help of the Taiwan Xin-Yi Foundation in management and networking, the series grew steadily in quantity and quality. Since 1988, the number of schools receiving library books increased from 4 to 1484 in 1998; the number of students receiving scholarships multiplied from 3 in 1997 to 136 in 1998. The total number of beneficiaries (students, teachers, and villagers) is estimated to be at 1.5 millions.

The effectiveness of the series becomes increasingly apparent as we progress. Donation of books brought to the village students plentiful extra-curricular knowledge, to the village teachers many teaching resources, and to the villagers new technical information. Donation for scholarships helped students in remote regions to re-enroll in schools. The sponsorship in teaching aids and exchange programs ignited teachers' enthusiasm and students' interests in learning. What exiting accomplishments these are!!

The famous Chinese philosopher Mr. Liang Shu-Ming once said, "all inequality is unkind, but educational inequality is the cruelest". Kids are like sprouting plants. Without the timely sun shine, rain, and nutrient, they will unavoidably wilt and rut. By sponsoring one school library, we nurture thousands of villager's souls; by donating one scholarship, we nurture one growing child; by helping one teaching activity, we incrementally raise teachers' quality.

Education is the wisest and most important investment! We deeply appreciate your generous donations and your trust in us on implementing the series. Please share this information and your experience in our activities to your friends and relatives . We wish for a secure, prosperous, and civilized world. We long for a confident and strong society with self esteem. Let's join our hands in this endeavor!