Many foreign individuals and organizations are involved with China's countryside schools to help develop educational opportunities for rural residents. Until this week, I did not think much about methods in educational development, but upon hearing how scholarships are distributed in a nearby minority village, I am beginning to think a little more how the situation could be improved.
Do we want to make sure every child goes to school or the right children go to school? Many foreigners, most of whom are accustomed to free public education for all, would quickly respond that we want everybody in school. Great. Good answer. But until that is practical, what are the steps to bring us to the point where all can go? And when all is not practical, who do you choose? Ah, that is the right question.
The Chinese government is working on providing free education, especially for rural residents, but the reality in the countryside remains that children's education is one of the biggest expenses for families. I would say (not based on statistics, but simply on my own observations of dozens and dozens of villages) most countryside children attend elementary (or primary) school, some can make it to middle school, and very few make it to high school.
It is not just because they cannot afford it. Not everybody realizes this fact, but many of these children are not able to continue schooling because they do not have the scores to continue.
When foreigners and foreign organizations come in and provide tuition for coutnryside students, they need to keep this in mind. One choice is to subsidize the school's entire student body, but in most cases, individual children are picked. And as soon as the foreigners leave, the locals will start talking about why this child recieved money and that one did not.
The foreigners tend to give to the lower income folks, that is, lower even by village standards. What happens is that many of those children not only did not have money to go to school, but really did not have the grades either. The foreigners tend to help the students who have less chance of continuing their education anyway.
The locals wonder why the scholarships are not based on students' scores. Basically, even if a student is bright enough to make it through middle school and high school, the average rural resident does not have the money to send them. The locals want to see the best students receive the grants, because those students are the only ones that have a chance anyway.
Until the tuition is provided by the government and children no longer have to worry about the money, these tuition scholarships would probably be more wisely given to the students that could score high enough to continue in their education. Otherwise, the bright students are limited by money and the poorer students receive a few more years but are soon stopped by their scores. Nobody wins.
I know, this sounds harsh when you think of the plight of the poorer students, and all I can think is what my family and friends who are in education would think of this, but in the current situation, at least figuring scores into the formula of who receives these scholarships would be an incredible encouragement to children in China's rural areas. Right now, if often looks either random or slanted toward poorer children. And that just does not work in China's rural situation.
