Migrant worker Liu Jun made a speech in English at Peking
University on July 2. He spoke about his desire to learn. And on
that day he was delighted to learn that his dream of studying would
be realized in a training program launched by Peking University for
its temporary workers.
Liu from the Hunan countryside is currently a cleaner at the
dormitory management center of Peking University. He became a
migrant worker five years ago after he failed the college entrance
examination.
There are about 3,000 temporary workers like Liu in Peking
University. According to a survey carried out on the campus by the
university's Education Department, most of the migrant workers
employed on the campus are around 20 years old and graduated from
junior high school. In general these people are filling the gap
between their academic qualifications, skills and the demands of
the job market. And they have a strong desire for training. But
hard work, the high costs associated with training and scarce
opportunities all contribute to making hard for them to realize
their dreams.
?
The Education Department has been very concerned about the
issue. In the second half of 2005 the department formed a team
focusing on researching the education and training of migrant
workers. The team created the "college plus volunteers" model. The
university administrative departments will cooperate to recruit
socially responsible teachers and student volunteers to run
training programs for migrant workers.
Professor Ding Xiaohao of the Education Department and director
of the program said that the recruitment of teachers had been
completed. Most of the 40 volunteers are students in Peking
University. The first training course will begin in mid-September
after the training of the volunteer teachers. Free training on
career development, culture and other skills will be given to the
migrant workers on campus who are without funds but desire training
through volunteer-based teaching.
One training course will last four months and hopefully can be
provided at weekends. In addition, newsletters concerning the
training programs will be published regularly so that those migrant
workers who can't attend the course will also benefit.
According to the Beijing municipal education union, this
initiative will be promoted in more than 70 colleges and
universities in Beijing to mobilize educational establishments and
even society in general to offer more help to the education and
training of migrant workers.
(China.org.cn by Li Xiaohua July 5, 2006)