"Life is education," says Tao Xingzhi, the great Chinese contemporary educatior.

Now in his hometown, Changjiang Civilian Education Foundation is trying to carry out that concept in its charitable educational aid programmes.

To extend civilian education and let more children from poverty-stricken areas receive effective education, the Changjiang Civilian Education Foundation was launched by Tecsun (Suzhou) Homes Co, Ltd and approved by the Bureau of Civil Affairs of Jiangsu Province in November 2005.

The tasks of the foundation are to collect donations from home and aboard to support civilian education development.

Tecsun-Luban Technical School of Carpentry and Xiuning Tecsun primary school are just the two programmes they are working on.

Carpentry School

For many young college graduates, a senior year thesis consists of a long research paper or final exam. For students graduating from the Tecsun-Luban (Xiuning) Technical School of Carpentry, their thesis was making an old fashioned table and two chairs with characteristics from the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Most young students don't think of going to college for bachelors of Carpentry. But on June 24, 2005, 39 students graduated with just that from Tecsun-Luban. They were the first graduates of their kind in China.

Although the degrees are not granted by the State Ministry of Education, the school says that vocational education is no less important than other forms of higher education.

The diploma doesn't only mean "an identity" for the students, the education they receive at Tecsun-Luban is of a high quality, says the school.

Nearly 4,000 students graduate from junior middle schools in Xiuning County in East China's Anhui Province every year, half of whom cannot enter senior high school for various reasons. Among those who go through senior high school, about half can't be accepted by universities. What can they do? "Vocational education is the solution," says Hu Ning, the chairman of Xiuning county.

In 2003, Tecsun (Suzhou) Homes Co, Ltd donated 2 million yuan (US$254,000) to establish Tecsun-Luban. The school has received students for three consecutive years and the students enrolled in 2003 graduated in 2005.

The goal of the school is to train every student to become an honest, diligent, qualified civilian who will never use shortcuts to accomplish their goals.

"I don't have an extraordinary ability to accomplish heroic exploits, but I have a serious-minded attitude to work earnestly," says the school motto that each student has to memorize.

Cultivating virtue and morality before teaching knowledge and skills is the educational principle the school lives by.

"I don't think a doctor with no real capability can contribute more to society or play a more important role than a hard-working carpenter," says Nie Shengzhe, the president of Changjiang Civilian Education Foundation and Tecsun (Suzhou) Homes Co, Ltd.

The school never encourages students to run after unpractical dreams, but tells them to find a career in an industry according to their interests and ability.

"We believe that one's excellence can be gained through education," says Chen Ying, principal of Tecsun-Luban.

Courses in the carpentry school consist of two parts: basic science and liberal arts courses and workshop carpentry practice. From Monday to Friday, the students have classes such as Chinese, English, mathematics, and workshop training.

On average, one student may consume four steres of wood a semester; one stere costs about 400 yuan (US$50).

"Without Tecsun's support, we could not afford such a huge cost," says Ling Haidong, director of the education bureau in Xiuning County.

For one student, the schooling fee for one semester is 900 yuan (US$114) and meal expenses for one day is 7 yuan (US$0.88). To ensure students' dietary nutrition and healthy growth, Tecsun gives the school 10, 000 yuan (US$1,270) in dietary subsidies every month to let the students spend 7 yuan (US$0.88).

Every summer and winter, the school hands out working clothes, schoolbags, gloves and work safety equipment for free.

To encourage the students to study hard and become kind-hearted people, Changjiang Civilian Education Foundation has set up a scholarship to praise those who have outstanding academic performance as well as those who have done something good or helped others in daily life.

To have a grateful heart is a sentiment often repeated at the carpentry school. When students begin to have success, they are told not to forget to pay their parents back. From July to December, the 2003 class had internships in the Tecsun company to help build wooden villas in the company's projects in Shanghai.

After they return from the internship, the school holds a party to let the students' parents welcome their children back. To the parents' surprise, every student brings back a gift for them, as well as their half-year's wages ranging 6,000 yuan (US$760) to 8,000 yuan (US$1,000). When the students present their parents with the money, which is often equal to their parents' one-year income, almost every parent breaks down in tears.

Xiuning Tecsun primary school

Under the exam-driven educational system, most primary schools in China train students to get high scores in exams through which they can enter a better secondary school and then a top university. The most important factor is their performance in the exams. However, Xiuning Tecsun primary school thinks differently.

"We think effective education is to not only to teach knowledge, but also to shape one's morality," says Zhang Xiaolin, principal of Xiuning Tecsun primary school. That is also the guiding principle ChangJiang Civilian Education Foundation strives to promote nation-wide.

Established in September 2005, Xiuning Tecsun primary school is the other school launched and sponsored by Changjiang Civilian Education Foundation.

Diligence, independence, and selflessness are the virtues most Chinese children lack, says principal Chen. Most Chinese children in cities are spoiled by their parents since most Chinese families have only one child due to the one-child national policy.

To develop children's independence, the school tells every pupil to wash their clothes by themselves.

Apart from in-class courses, the school teaches various labour skills. Every week the teacher shows pupils how to cultivate land and plant vegetables which will serve as their meals. The school says their true purpose is to enable the students to experience the working process so they value food more.

If a pupil in civilian primary school tells a lie or cheats, they will receive harsh punishment.

"We want to let shining virtues like diligence, independence, and selflessness be rooted in their heart at a very early age," says the foundation.

"By far, the foundation is mainly supported by our company, but what we can do due to our financial capability is too limited," say Tecsun company. "We can build one carpentry school and one civilian primary school, but we are unable to accomplish one hundred, one thousand, we need wider social support."

(China Daily 11/06/2006 page4)