Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
Below is a case study of some of educational Chinese NGOs and how they have helped extend
education to the poor.
NongovernmentalOrganizationsandtheDevelopmentof
ChinasEducation
Theconfluenceofnongovernmentalorganizations(NGOs)withthedevelopmentofChinas
educationisnotamerechanceencounter.VoluntarismandNGOsholdenormoussignificancefor
Chinaseducation.However,theattentiongiveninallquartersfromthegovernmentto
academiccirclesandincludingpeoplewhostudyandformulatepoliciestothedevelopmentof
NGOsineducationisquiteinadequate.
Bymeansofthisactivity,tourgethegovernmenttoproducepoliciesthatwillbringabout
equalityintherighttoeducation.Tovieforthesefunds,HopeProjectofficesinXian,
Shenyang,Harbin,andmanyothercitiesrepeatedlynegotiatedwithbureausofeducationand
otherrelevantdepartments,hopingtourgetherelevantgovernmentdepartmentstoproducea
seriesoftemporarypoliciesthatwouldhelpthechildrenofpeasantlaborersgotoschool.
TheCYDFhasinthepastfifteenyearssolicitedRMB2.4billioninfundsinChinaandabroad,
providedassistancetomorethat2,742,000schooldropouts,constructed11,500Hopeschools
accountingfor2.5percentofallelementaryschoolsinthecountry,andequipped13,000book
repositoriesandHopelibraries.ItisalsoobviousthattheHopeProjectscontributionsinthepast
fifteenyearsarenotlimitedtothese.OnenewspaperarticlestatedTheHopeProjecthastruly
openedawindowforthepeopleofourcountrytounderstandsociety.Inthepast15years,the
socialpublichasnotonlyhelpedlargenumbersofpoorstudentsthroughtheHopeProject,but
hasalsotrulycometounderstandthestateofeducationinChinaunderthebinaryurbanrural
system.
TheCYDFsfifteenyearsofarduousendeavorshavefollowedaverydistinctmainthread;thatof
strivingtoprovidepoorchildrenwithequalopportunitiestoaneducation.Inaddition,theCYDF
isnotonlyinfluencingvariousquartersinsocietybyvisibleandtangiblematerialmeansor
projectsbutisalsoinfluencinggovernmentpolicy.DuringaninterviewwithFuTao,reporterof
theZhongguofazhanjianbao(ChinaDevelopmentBriefs),XuYongguansaidthattheCYDF
actuallyhasmanyideaswithregardtopolicy,andithasindeedconsidereddirectlyexertinga
morepowerfulinfluenceonthegovernment,butithasrarelyattemptedtodosointhepast.The
CYDFsprincipleforitsexistenceanddevelopmenthasbeenoneofopeningupbutnot
oversteppingbounds,innovatingbutnotdepartingfromtheessentials,openingupbut
maintainingrestraint,andbeingconservativebutavoidingrigidity.
ThisisprobablythestrategyofmostNGOsinthepresentphase.Theyneedtoknowhowtomake
intelligentuseoftheirunityofoppositesrelationshipwiththegovernment.Iftheyarethoroughly
marginalizedbecauseofopposition,theywillonlyloseallopportunitytoinfluencethe
government.However,theycannotplayamotivationalroleiftheycomplyinallmattersandlose
theirindependenceofwill.
TheCYDFsowncourseofdevelopmentandgrowthisnotlackingininspirationalsignificance
formanyoftodaysNGOsthatpossessofficialbackgrounds.In1989,theCentralCommitteeof
theChineseCommunistYouthLeague(CCYL)appropriatedRMB100,000inregistrationfunds
forsettinguptheCYDF,andXuYongguang,whowasthendirectoroftheorganizational
departmentoftheCCYLCentralCommittee,tookpartinpreparatoryworkandbecamethe
CYDFsfirstsecretarygeneral.Actually,therearemanysuchNGOorganizationsinChinas
currentsystemicenvironment,andaconsiderablenumberoftheminthefieldofeducationandin
variousacademicsocietiesandassociationsevenquiteactivelyseekpatronagefromthe
government.
SunshineintheWestAction(Xibuyanguangxingdong):ThePublicGoodNeedsYoung
PeopleandRemoldsYoungPeople
OnJuly9,2004,theSunshineintheWestAction,spontaneouslyorganizedbymorethan100
universitystudentsinBeijing,helditssettingoutceremonyattheUniversityofForeign
EconomicRelationsandTrade.StartedupbyShangLifu,thisaction,whichhadtheparticipation
ofmorethan120peoplefromsixteenstudentcommunitiesatBeijingUniversityandtwelveother
universitiesinthecapital,wasdirectedateducationintheruralareasofthenorthwesternregion.
Itwasthestartupceremonyforeducationalandculturalsupportthepooractivitiesintherural
areasofNorthwestChinaactivitiesthataresupportedbyundergraduates,M.A.sandPh.D.sin
variousspecializations,aswellaseducationalexpertsandvariousquartersinsociety.
Previously,ShangLifuhad,byhimself,equippedwithabicycleandatentandpayinghisway
withincomefromdoingcasualwork,spentsixyearsconductinginvestigationsintheruralareas
ofmorethantwentyprovincesandregions.Duringtheseperegrinationshemadenotes,reflected,
andissuedcalls.Themorethan5,000photographshetookwereshownatrovingexhibitionsin
nearlytwentyuniversities,includingBeijingandQinghuaUniversities.
ShangLifusexploitsandhisinformationaboutconditionsintheruralareasinNorthwestChina
elicitedstrongreverberationsamongstudentsinBeijingsuniversitiesandconsiderableattention
amongthemedia,experts,andscholarsinthecapital.Manycollegestudentsofferedtobecome
volunteersintheserviceofthenorthwest.Asmanydifferentforcescoalesced,anactionwasborn
onethatwasspontaneouslyorganizedbycollegestudentsandthatgoestothenorthwestto
engageinsocialpracticeinsupportofthatregion.
Manyenterprisesandfoundationsspontaneouslyjoinedintheaction.Theranksofvolunteers
weredividedintodifferentdetachments:
TheSamsungGroupprovidedfundingsupportfortheSichuanDalodetachment,theFord
FoundationhelpedfundtheGansuHejiashandetachment,andtheMeixinlufoundation
helpedfundtheNingxiaGugoudetachment.
Universitystudentsindifferentspecializationsplannedactioncontentsaimedatdifferent
aspects:Studentsineducationalspecializationsprovidedtrainingforteachersand
students;thoseinagriculturalspecializationsconductedtrainingforpeasants,
investigatedlocalfarmingpractices,andcollectedsoilsamplesthattheythenbrought
backforanalysisbyexpertstohelpthepeasantspromptlyadjusttheircropmakeup;
studentsinindustrialspecializationsmadecontactwithruralenterprisesandcounseled
themonmattersoflongrangedevelopmentandproductmarketing;studentsineconomic
specializationscontactedlocalvillageandtownshipheadsandparticipatedindrawingup
longtermruraldevelopmentplans;andstudentsinspecializationsrelatedtowomens
issuesworkedtogetherwithvillageheadsindevelopingrightsandbenefitsactivities
amongruralwomendirectedatinstancesofhouseholdviolence,explainedthe
importanceofthefamilyforthehealthydevelopmentofchildren,andurgedwomento
playamajorandspecialroleinamelioratingruralgovernanceandrurallife,andin
increasingwomensselfdeterminationintheirlives.
Ihopetobehereeveryyeartosendnewfacestothenorthwest,saidProfessorYangDongping
oftheBeijingScienceandEngineeringUniversitywhohadcometoseethestudentsoffandwas
cladinthebrightredTshirtwornbyallvolunteers.ProfessorYangandotherelderlypersons
presentfoundsolaceinthefactthatagreattraditionwasbeingcarriedforward.Chinese
intellectualsstartedacampaigntoremoldtheruralareasseveraldozenyearsago.Now,several
dozenyearslater,Chineseuniversitystudentsarebeginningtodevoteattentionandgotorural
areas
Thepublicwealneedsyoungpeopleandremoldsyoungpeople.Thisisamostaptstatement
fordescribingthesignificanceofthepublicwealandyoungpeople.Infact,manyuniversity
studentshavethrownthemselvesintovariousactivitiesforthepublicwealthisyear,and
voluntarismhasrisenamongthenewgenerationofChinese.Anditisamongthemthatthenew
generationofNGOpersonsisbeingborn.
there is little hope of reaching out to the poor. Involvement of these people in the teaching
fraternity as well as management will greatly contribute to the expansion of the educational cause
and will help young underpriveleged students to benefit from their learning insights.
Another important thing to note here is that affiliations and partnerships are likely to work better
than a single NGO alone. NGO's in Pakistan must strive for a partnership with government to
ensure certain level of funding as well as other benefits that the government can provide easily.
Apart from this, there can be an affiliation in teacher sharing whereby NGO's manage the
provision of quality teachers to government schools and minimise any expenses except that of
teachers. This way, the reach will be greater and many areas will be able to benefit.
One insight from the China Youth Development Foundation is that NGO's striving for a similar
cause must learn to group together so that they can exert a unified pressure on the government to
influence certain policies in their favor, or generally in the education sector.Pakistan has the
added advantage that there is greater public confidene in the BGO's and a general mistrust of the
government's marginalised effort.