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Home > Learning English > Bilingual News

Poor county extends compulsory education
陕西贫困县实现15年免费教育

The county has seen a sharp increase in the number of preschool students since it began offering the courses for free this autumn. [File photo]
2011年秋天实行免费教育后，宁陕县幼儿园学生数量激增。[资料图片]

Ningshan County, nestled deep in the Qinling Mountains of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, has extended its compulsory education program to 15 years, offering local students free schooling from kindergarten to high school.	今年，位于秦岭深处的陕西省宁陕县在贫困地区率先实现了15年义务教育。就此，当地学生从幼儿园到高中15年间的教育均免费。
That's six more years than the national compulsory education system requires. What's more, the local government has achieved the expanded schooling program with total fiscal revenue of just 30 million yuan (US$4.72 million) in 2010, spending 13 million yuan on the program – nearly 40 percent of its annual revenue, more than triple the 12.5 percent spent on education nationwide.	这比国家推行的九年制义务教育多出了6年。2010年，这个名不见经传的山区小县财政收入仅为3000多万元，投在教育上的资金则高达1300余万元，占全县地方财政收入的40%左右，远高于12.5%的全国平均水平。
"Development of education is a priority project aimed at improving people's lives," Chen Lunbao, party secretary of Ningshan County, said. "Although it doesn't work immediately, children are always the hope for both the country and its families."	“发展教育是民生工程的头等大事，虽然见效较慢，但不论是对国家还是对家庭而言，孩子永远都是希望所在。”宁陕县委书记陈伦宝说。
Since 2007, this poor county has been taken a number of steps to improve local education.	自2007年起，这个贫困县开始了改变教育贫困的一次次尝试和革新。
Zhang Dengqin, a 12-year-old girl at Tangping Primary School, gets free hot food at school. Four years ago, the school, like many others in the county, had no canteens. Most students lived on campus and had to bring their own food with them to the school each week.	12岁的张登琴在汤坪小学终于吃上了免费的热饭。四年前，这个小学还像县里的其他学校一样，没有食堂。大部分学生住在学校，每周需自带干粮。
Visiting villages on a winter day in 2007 as part of an inspection tour, Chen, then county mayor, came across a group of boarding students on their way to school.	2007年的一个冬日，时任宁陕县县长的陈伦宝下乡调研，偶遇一群正走在返校路上的寄宿学生。