Education is key to beating poverty, legislator says

Education is the key in eradicating poverty and helping people live better lives in Menyuan Hui autonomous county, Qinghai province, Kong Qingju, a national legislator, said on Friday.

"More than 700 children from poor families in the county have got into college, thanks to efforts to boost education opportunities in our hometown," Kong, a deputy to National People's Congress, the country's top legislative body, told the media before attending the opening ceremony of the fourth session of the 13th NPC on Friday morning.

Recalling a boy she taught several years, Kong highlighted the significance of facilitating families get a stable income to support their children in school.

"He was energetic, but I found him often absent-minded, so I talked to him, hoping to know what happened to him," she said. "When he told me he didn't want to go to school, I was anxious."

"After I visited his home, I discovered his father had died and his mother was a housewife. The family also suffered from debt, which caused difficulties in supporting educational spending for the boy," she remembered.

To ensure the boy did not drop out of school, Kong called for local government and non-profit organizations to help the family with preferential policies and a job offer. With all these efforts, the student continued to study, and his mother was also employed.

Since 2018, a total of 125 children from families with difficulties, have returned to school, she said.

Meanwhile, the country has helped 2,292 people from poor families seek jobs to ensure they could have stable incomes, she said.

"It's happy to see the education playing a big role in poverty alleviation, bringing great changes to our county," she said. "As a teacher and also an NPC deputy, I'll devote more efforts in education, helping my hometown cultivate more talents in village revitalization."