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

Students at Huayan Primary School in Ningshan County, Shaanxi Province, have enjoyed free breakfast including an egg and a bottle of milk since 2009. [File photo]
自2009年起，陕西省宁陕县华严小学的学生每天早餐都能免费吃上一个鸡蛋，喝上一杯牛奶。[资料图片]

Noticing the full jars of pickles they had with them, Chen, once a village teacher, was distraught. "Thrifty students can depend on a jar of pickles for a week; those without any plan will run out and only eat dry pancakes for the latter half of the week," he said. "Now, many people in urban areas eat too much, while rural children's physical development is suffering from a serious lack of nutrition."	看到孩子们带着的一罐罐盐巴腌制的咸菜丝，这位乡村教师出身的县长心里一阵泛酸。“节俭点的学生，一筒咸菜能坚持一周；没计划的，后半周只能啃干饼。”陈伦宝被深深触动了，“现在许多城里人都营养过剩，而正长身体的农村孩子却严重缺乏营养。”
The next day, a program was proposed to improve local students' diets. One month later, the project was carried out and children there were able to eat warm meals, drink warm soup and get hot water to wash their feet before sleep.	第二天，一项被称为“学生营养计划”的动议被提上了日程。一个月后，这项计划顺利实施，孩子们吃上了热饭、热菜，喝上热汤，临睡前有了一盆热洗脚水。
Granting each student a daily subsidy of 3 yuan (US$0.47), the poor county allocated 1.5 million yuan (US$236,000) for the free food each year. Its fiscal revenue at the time was only 12.17 million yuan (US$1.9 million).	按照每个孩子日补贴3元的标准，这个当时财政收入仅有1217万元的国家级贫困县，一年为此需专门拨款150万元。
In 2008, in order to develop a pool of skilled labor, the Ningshan county government implemented a policy of abolishing tuition fees at vocational schools and granting a yearly living allowance of 1,500 yuan (US$236) to each student. But due to a lack of businesses in the area, it was difficult for graduates from the schools to get jobs after graduation.	2008年，为使更多人掌握一技之长，宁陕县政府出台政策：不仅免除职业学校学费，还发给每人每年1500元的生活补助。然而，由于当地缺乏工业和企业，职校生毕业后很难找到工作。
In 2009, the county government turned its attention to free high school education. The government offered to pay all tuition fees, with the standard of 2,000 yuan (US$315) every year for each student. Students needn't pay fees any more, except those for books, accommodations and personal accident insurance. All kids were eligible to receive a high school education as long as they want to go to school.	于是，2009年，宁陕县将目光投向了免费高中教育。政府全额“埋单”，县财政给每个学生每年2000元。免费后，除了书本费、住宿费、学生意外伤害保险外，学生不用再缴纳任何费用。不仅如此，连高中的招生分数线也一并取消，所有想上学的孩子都能接受高中教育。
This autumn, all preschoolers were exempted from charges for their three-year preschool education. The 2.4-million-yuan policy provided three more years of education to 2,040 students.	今年秋季，宁陕又将全县幼儿园学前三年保教费免除。这一举措惠及2040名幼儿，为此，县财政每年又增加投入240万元。