Chinese college students will go to the countryside during their
summer vacation to publicize "new socialist countryside" policies and help
rural residents improve their lives.
The students will head to around 1,000 villages in 600 teams,
with 100 teams devoted to publicizing government policies, 100
publicizing the "socialist concept of honor and disgrace", 100
providing technical assistance to farmers, 100 giving lectures to
rural students, 100 providing medical and health care and 100 teams
of PhD students offering advice on local economic development,
according to the activity plan.
The summer vacation of Chinese colleges and universities
generally start in July and last for around one and a half months.
The government usually organizes college students to make field
trips to the countryside and other grass-roots units.
A circular, jointly issued by the Ministry of Education and
several other organizations, said the the activity is "an effective
approach" to improving the ideological and political education of
college students.
"It is also an important measure to allow college students to
play a role in the 'new countryside' construction," says the
circular.
The government seeks to promote rural development with the
"building of a socialist new countryside" program, which aims to
improve agricultural production, ethos, living standards,
appearance and public administration in the rural areas.
(Xinhua News Agency July 7, 2006)