Current crop of college students fruit of provincial, national initiatives
Qing Mei (second from left) and Li Shan (third from left) attend a New Year Party at the Huaiji County Social Welfare Institute in Guangdong province last year. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
Qing Mei said that she will forever miss the staff members, teachers and friends she met at the Huaiji County Social Welfare Institute in western Guangdong province.
Orphaned four years ago, she passed the national college entrance examination, or gaokao, in June and gained admittance to Nanjing Audit University in Jiangsu province and has just left home with a reluctant heart to pursue her dreams.
Before I was sent there (the Huaiji County Social Welfare Institute in western Guangdong province), I had to do farm work after school, and I always worried about food and clothes. After I arrived at the institute, the staff members and teachers were supportive and warm and looked after us carefully.
Qing Mei, an orphan in Huaiji county, Guangdong province
With a major in preschool education, she is one is of four children from the welfare home who took the gaokao this year, all of whom have gained admittance to universities and colleges.
"I hope to make my dream of becoming a teacher come true in the future," Qing said. "I think the teachers here are great, just like the teachers at the welfare home who cared for us so much. They not only taught us textbook knowledge, but also how to learn and behave."
She said she wanted to give back to society and help people in need after she graduates.
Qing's father died of an illness when she was a child, and her mother died in 2018 while she was preparing for zhongkao, the entrance exams for high school.
Qing was forced to bid farewell to her elderly grandparents and was sent to the welfare institute.
"Before I was sent there, I had to do farm work after school, and I always worried about food and clothes. After I arrived at the institute, the staff members and teachers were supportive and warm and looked after us carefully," she said, adding that she also received a monthly stipend from the government.
The welfare home teachers encouraged Qing and other children to study hard and overcome their temporary difficulties.
Li Shan, another girl at the home, said that she did not have a schoolbag, a pen or even her own textbooks because she had to share them with classmates when she was in rural primary school.
Once she was sent to the institute, she had a full set of school supplies.
"There was also a library in the institute, so I was able to read a lot of books," Li said, adding that she believes she can change her future by studying hard. She was admitted to Guangdong Justice Police Vocational College this year.
Li is majoring in social work because she wants to help vulnerable groups after she graduates. "Social work is very important work, and I hope to pass on my love and strength so that vulnerable groups are able to live happier lives," she said.
Qing and Li are not the only ones in Guangdong to have benefited this year.
According to statistics, 28 children from welfare institutes took the gaokao this year, with 24 of them passing. Twenty-three have since been admitted to universities or colleges, while the remaining child has decided to repeat a year in high school.
In addition to the Huaiji County Social Welfare Institute, which is under the administration of Zhaoqing city, other welfare home students from Guangzhou, Dongguan, Huizhou, Shantou, Zhuhai and Yangchun in the province also performed well in the gaokao this year.
According to the authorities, most of the children were either abandoned by their parents or were orphaned because their parents died and their guardians were unable to continue to support them.
The authorities said that the welfare institutes provide otherwise helpless children with new and warm homes and take loving care of them, giving them a fresh start on life. "The raising of children in welfare homes reflects the increasing improvement of the national social security and social welfare systems," authorities said.
Under policies and regulations introduced by Guangdong, orphans who have reached the age of 18 and who are still in full-time compulsory education, high school, secondary vocational school, higher vocational school or ordinary undergraduate colleges will continue to be provided basic living expenses.
Children in the province are subject to nine years of compulsory education until they graduate from junior high school.
In 2019, the Ministry of Civil Affairs implemented a special program to help orphans. It provides 10,000 yuan ($1,470) a year to every orphan over age 18 who is admitted to ordinary full-time undergraduate courses, ordinary full-time college courses, higher vocational training or other institutions of higher learning and secondary vocational training. Over the last three years, 72.42 million yuan has been invested in the program.
