Rural education: A bane or a boost?

Every year, especially during school breaks, many university students in China opt to take part in "rural education aid", a program that sends students and volunteers into impoverished and remote rural areas to teach at local schools.

In a survey conducted by the China Youth Daily last summer, of the 1,994 respondents, 63.3 percent expected the program to last at least six months. However, in reality, most students only stayed for a short period of time, usually a few weeks or months, before returning home.

Some respondents also believed short-term education aid programs did students and schools in rural areas more harm than good, partly because they disrupted regular school lessons without providing systematic and consistent improvement, and partly because of the sense of culture shock the programs created among rural students.