Programme offers future for rural girls
2005-11-16 China Daily
About 6,000 girls who don't attend school in poor western regions will have
the chance to develop specific skills next year, thanks to an explorative
Sino-UK programme to promote gender equality in rural areas.
The programme started five years ago in six counties in the provinces of
Sichuan, Yunnan and Gansu, and will conclude at the end of next year, having
received a combined fund of 2 million pounds (US$3.49 million).
A total of 12,000 girls from these regions aged between 15 and 18 will have
obtained basic skills in the areas of planting, poultry raising and embroidery,
by the end of next year.
Chen Minghui, a 15-year-old girl from a remote village in Yunnan, said she is
able to earn an average monthly salary of 1,600 yuan (US$198) through her
embroidery work, a skill she acquired through the programme.
She also attended some other lectures offered on the programme covering
topics on reproductive health and job hunting.
Girls below the age of 18 in the country, especially in western rural
regions, often face discrimination in the areas of education and employment.
Growing up in a family of five depending on growing corn, Chen lost the
chance to continue her education four years ago due to poverty, despite an
outstanding performance in her studies.
Chen said that in her village, almost every family has two children, with at
least one boy and most of the girls only having elementary school education.
"When I was in primary school the proportion of girls to boys was about 1:3,"
Chen said.
She followed by saying that she has gained not only life skills from the
programme, but also a passion to explore the world beyond home.
"I want to find a job outside my county, maybe even outside the province,"
she said.
Jiang Yuee, a senior official with the All-China Women's Federation, would
rather call this programme a tentative approach to addressing widespread
discrimination against women in rural areas.
"I think the programme adopts a down-to-earth approach," said Jiang at a
three-day national forum on opportunity development for girls in China.
Gender inequality seems to be fomenting because of social problems due to the
migration of the rural population and increasing divorce rates.
"Most of the more than 20 million rural children who are left at home by
their parents seeking jobs in big cities are girls," said Yang Jin,
vice-director of the Ministry of Education's elementary education division.
The National Bureau of Statistics said it may start to collect employment and
education statistics separately for men and women, to support the government in
making gender-sensitive policies. |