New Hope in China

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New Hope in China

Targeting Primary School Dropouts

A project in China is addressing the problem of primary school-dropouts among “poor” children, numbering approximately one million per year. Using survey techniques to identify the specific target group and assess the extent and nature of problems in every village in the poorer counties, Project Hope seeks to return children to schools, where possible, and to prevent drop-outs from occurring in high-risk circumstances. This is essentially achieved by financing, through voluntary contributions, a child's school fees for five years.

Project Hope was established by the China Youth Development Foundation to provide opportunities for primary education to young people in the poorest counties of China. To ensure effective implementation of the project at all levels, the Foundation teamed up with the All-China Youth Federation (ACYF), a semi-government youth body which had branches at the national, provincial, regional, county and community levels.

Results indicate that Project Hope represents a highly successful and cost-effective way of upgrading primary school retention, and thus promoting literacy among poor children. So far, 860,000 children in 1,200 counties in 30 provinces have been assisted. Almost 100 per cent of these children go on to complete primary school.

A second aim of Project Hope is to improve the primary school facilities where the assisted children are taught. School buildings are often unsafe, not rainproof, lack electricity, and are run-down to the point that they detract from the students’ learning capacity. Project Hope contributes towards rectifying that situation, while inspiring others to play a role in doing so.

Project Hope has already established 300 new primary schools, named “Hope Schools”. The construction of a “Hope School” is subject to conditions set by the project. For instance, the Project provides only a proportion of the total cost of each school, with the balance coming from local funds, and communal and private donations. The site for the schools must be provided by the local county government or the public, while labour and materials for construction must be provided free or at minimal cost. The expectation is for the local people to not only to build the school but to maintain it, and supply it with teachers, thus ensuring its long-term viability.

As reflected in its name, Project Hope seeks not only to offer hope to individuals, but also to the community in general, through the provision of primary education opportunities for children living in poverty. Project Hope conveys to families and communities the message that the education of their children is a critical to the overall development of their families and communities. It seeks to encourage local government, communities and families to take what initiative they can in ensuring the education of their children as an investment in the future.

As a way of ensuring community participation, the Foundation established the project in such a way that its operations would be almost entirely dependent on voluntary contributions, in an environment where such practice is not common among the people. Despite great odds, the Foundation chose to rely on this approach to raise funds, which was extremely demanding in terms of time and energy, rather than seek international assistance.

Project Hope adopts a decentralized approach to project implementation to maximize participation by the local people. This ensures the responsiveness of the project to local needs and conveys to the local people a sense of project ownership. The headquarters of Project Hope is located in Beijing in the China Youth Development Foundation. The headquarters is pivotal in maintaining a steady inflow of donations and in ensuring that funds are utilized in response to the specific needs of communities.

On the other hand, the success of Project Hope ultimately depends on the work undertaken at the local level. Through teaming up with the All-China Youth Federation, which has extensive outreach in the country, the Foundation has been able to maintain a decentralized administrative structure for implementation of project activities. ACYF provides full staffing support to Project Hope at all levels of operation: provincial, regional, county and local.

It is the ACYF staff who undertake the technical work of Project Hope. They carry out local surveys of students, compile lists of those seeking or needing Project Hope assistance, make visits to monitor and check on the progress of assisted students, and generally promote all related work at the local level. The Project Hope staff are closely integrated within their local communities, which has the effect of making the whole project a local enterprise.

It is the local project staff who receive requests for assistance, hold discussions with schools and the village leadership, and finally compile a list of needed action for submission to county level government authorities. The county government and education commission review the list and try secure available county funds or raise private funds locally to address some of the needs on the list.

The success of this strategy is reflected in several ways; the local "branches" of Project Hope are able to raise money locally; local government addresses some of the needs identified but not met by Project Hope and communities manage to provide matching grants and labour for Project Hope ventures.

Through teaming up with ACYF which has enabled Project Hope to adopt a decentralized approach to project administration, a sense of community ownership of the Project has been generated. While the project receives no government financial assistance, it enjoys strong government support. The Education Commission works closely with the Foundation at all levels, while local government is a very strong supporter of the work in tangible ways.

In short, although it is an NGO, the China Youth Development Foundation and its Project Hope are deeply rooted in China's governmental and communal systems.

Taken from the publication: “Review of the Youth Situation, Policies and Programmes in Asia and the Pacific”, ESCAP, 1997