Rural youths need special care

Updated: 2011-08-24 08:28

(China Daily)

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The falling proportion of students from rural areas in universities is in sharp contrast to Lu Xingyu, a 24-year-old rich woman, who supposedly is in charge of a charity organization. Lu has attracted more attention, though negative, because of her involvement with charity, but the inequality between rich and poor youths is far more alarming, says an article in the Oriental Morning Post. Excerpts:

A recent online article analyzes the unfair social phenomenon that exists in the education sector, saying it is becoming harder for children of poor families to succeed in life because they start as losers at life's starting point.

Though people are born equal, receiving proper education still depends on the financial status of the families they are born into. This fact is becoming even more true with the widening income gap between the rich and the poor, and between people in the urban and rural areas.

There is no point in saying that things were better in the past. And it is impossible to establish "social equity" in the short run to overcome the problem. But we have to reflect whether a society in which the poor remain poor and the rich get richer will be stable or become a hotbed of more corruption.

Everyone wants to have a better life and work to get it. Giving everyone access to education, including higher education, would mean giving them a chance to realize their dreams and ensure that society undergoes self-renewal constantly and achieves harmony.

Educational equity means that the cost of education, especially for students from rural areas, should be reduced and choices of all kinds should be offered to meet the needs of people of different economic backgrounds.

(China Daily 08/24/2011 page9)