The campaign slogan not only caught Wang Gaping's attention, but also helped to motivate the farmer to sign up for classes.

"Being able to read and write, I think, will bring me confidence and courage," the 35-year-old man from Sancha Township in northwest Gansu Province said.

Thanks to a large-scale literacy campaign, Wang, a farmer, has learned more than 300 Chinese characters and is beginning to realize that he has actually taken control of his destiny. "When I've learned more, I might try to seek my fortune in cities," Wang said.

Wang comes from deep in the countryside. He lives in Zhangxian, an impoverished, mountainous region some 300 kilometers from the capital city Lanzhou in Gansu. Life was difficult and embarrassing for Wang before he could read and write. He could not even distinguish between the men's and women's public toilets. 

But despite his progress and new-found confidence, Wang still needs to put in more time and effort to attain a national literacy standard. The standard requires a rural resident to be able to read 1,500 characters, while an urban resident needs to know 2,000 characters.

In the country's underdeveloped western region, about nine percent of the population over the age of 15 are illiterate, 5 percent higher than the national average.

In 2004, China launched a literacy campaign focused on the west. The aim of the campaign was to eliminate illiteracy by 2007.

With less than two years to go in the campaign, Wen Panxi, a provincial education official, admits that illiteracy is still a problem particularly in 19 counties in Gansu and that it's going to be tough to meet the target.

Literacy campaigns are a major part of the central government's plan to develop China's rural areas. More than 75 percent of those who can't read or write live in the rural areas.

"Farmers will play an essential role in building the new countryside, and basic literacy is an indispensable part of that competency," Wen said, adding that most of those who can't read or write are now found mainly in extremely remote areas of the province.

He said Gansu Province is now aiming to bring illiteracy rates to below 5 percent by 2007. The central government has provided western regions with more than 30 billion yuan (US$3.7 billion) for education.

Literacy levels of future generations should also be improved once the government's plan to provide free compulsory education for the first nine years is expanded to benefit up to 95 percent of children of school-going age. 

In farmer Wang's town there are 12 schools that offer free evening literacy classes during the off-harvest seasons. The local government provides textbooks, notebooks and pens free of charge, a township official said.

There are 12 men and 31 women in Wang's class. Zhang Xiaofang has been attending classes for four years.

"My family supports me. My husband and father-in-law take care of my two daughters when I'm at school," the 30-year-old woman said.

She can now read most of the subtitles on TV and she has no difficulty filling out a form at the bank.

Before she started taking classes she "had to ask others for help because the form seemed like a sealed book," she said, adding that she plans to study for another two years.

Zhang also hopes to venture into the big city some day.

(Xinhua News Agency February 24, 2006)