Ireland contributed a donation of 50,000 yuan (about US$6,000) to a vocational school in Beijing for children from families of migrant workers in the city.

 

Conor Lenihan TD, Irish minister of state at the department of foreign affairs, visited the Beijing BN Vocational School Friday, and presented the donation.

 

The vocational school opened last year as the first of its kind in the capital city to offer free practical skills training to children of migrant workers from rural areas.

 

The school basically relies on volunteer service and donations of corporations, institutions and individuals, and offers free classes, textbooks, uniforms and meals to students.

 

The school has recruited 84 students, aging from 16 to 20, from 21 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities. These students reside here with their parents, who work in this capital city with an average monthly income of less than 300 yuan (US$37) per family member.

 

The students at this school can choose such majors as home and property management, plumbing and air-conditioning, and technical maintenance and electrician.

 

Teachers at this school all work voluntarily, and are highly professional as well. They are professors from universities, or experts in their fields.

 

The Irish embassy to China donated another 50,000 yuan (about US$6,000) to the school last year, in an effort to help its English teaching. The fund was spent building a language lab in the school.

 

(Xinhua News Agency March 18, 2006)