A nationwide project will send 6,500 university graduates to
serve the poor western countryside as volunteers this year,
according to a press conference yesterday.
The volunteers will work in poverty-stricken counties for one or
two years to help develop education, health care, agriculture,
culture and other sectors.
The new batch of volunteers will join last year's group, who are
midway through their two-year stints, bringing the number of
university graduates serving the west during 2006-07 to about
10,000.
Cosponsored by the Central Committee of the Communist Youth
League of China and three ministries, the project aims to introduce
talented university graduates to the western regions of the country
and alleviate the increasing unemployment problem.
Over the past three years, at least 40,000 university graduates
have served the west as volunteers, and 392 poverty-stricken
counties have benefited.
The project has provided guidance to university students faced
with the decision of where to work whether to stay in urban areas
or move to the rural regions, said Yang Yue, deputy director of the
project's leading team, yesterday in Beijing.
"It has also fostered a group of young people who understand the
country's conditions and acquire the capability of hard work," Yang
said.
Using the project as a model, a few provinces and municipalities
have kick-started their own projects by sending volunteers to the
west.
Official statistics show that, including the 9,000 volunteers
sent by local projects, a total of 20,000 young people are working
in the country's poor areas, a growth of 4,000 on 2004.
This year, volunteers are expected to work in sectors including
education, health care, agriculture, legal aid, grassroots
procuratorates, courts and financial development. The latter two
sectors are recent additions to the project.
During their service term, the volunteers will receive a
600-yuan (US$75) monthly allowance, insurance and a health
check-up.
The volunteers will also get assistance to land jobs or pursue
further study when they finish their service.
The project has helped more than 4,500 of 7,200 volunteers find
jobs after their service in western China.
To encourage more university graduates to get involved in the
project, the organizers are strengthening their efforts to assist
volunteers in finding employment afterwards.
"We will set up a database of these volunteers, gather
employment information for them, provide professional training, and
set up a fund for those who want to start their own businesses in
the west," said Wang Xuefeng, an official with the Central
Committee of the Communist Youth League of China.
(China Daily April 18, 2006)