Media Digest

China Daily: Invest in Education to Secure the Futureinuous Learning, the Key to Education 

Ningshaan, an impoverished county in Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, has put the country's richer regions to shame with its spending on free education.

Its revenue was only 30 million yuan or less than $5 million US dollars last year. The money was nothing compared with the country's top 100 counties, each of which had an annual income of dozens of billion yuan on average.

But the poor county has spent nearly 40 percent of its tiny revenue on free 15-year education, covering kindergarten to senior middle school.

By doing so, Ningshaan became the first among the country's hundreds of poverty-stricken counties to offer this kind of free education.

An editorial in the China Daily effusively praised the policy and said the county has set a good example for the whole country, especially economically developed regions.

The newspaper notes that two years ago some lawmakers proposed that China should expand its compulsory education from the current 9 years to 12 years.

But the Ministry of Education responded by saying it wouldn't consider putting the extension on its agenda for the time being.

The editorial says now it's time for the government to spend more money on education as better and longer education is an essential part of a citizen's social welfare.

It further points out that rural education should be given particular attention as children there have lagged far behind their urban counterparts for years.

The newspaper warns that the gap between urban and rural regions will widen if the government does't invest heavily in rural education.

It urged the government to take the bold steps to secure the future because a well-educated nation will bring about long-term economic and social benefits.

The newspaper concludes by saying if a poor county can do it, then surely the nation can.

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Effective Management Urged for Outdoor Activities

Fourteen hikers were found earlier this week, having been missing for about two weeks on a mountain in Southwest China's Sichuan Province. Their disappearance had prompted intensive search-and-rescue efforts by local authorities.

The hikers have made a casual apology for the trouble they had caused.

The incident has caused a great deal of debate in the Chinese media about the management of the country's emerging adventure activities.

A commentary in the Beijing Times says it's inappropriate for the adventurers to waste public resources in their rescue.
The article notes that the hikers had deliberately shunned supervision by local authorities when they began the adventurous hiking trip.

Unfortunately, their thrill-seeking activities resulted in the search-and-rescue mobilization of hundreds of people and the deep anxiety of their families.

The newspaper says the incident should serve as a warning for the country's adventurers to better prepare and coordinate their activities and keep other people's wellbeing in mind.

In recent years, adventure activities have been emerging in China along with the burgeoning middle class. Most of the expeditions are organized on a volunteer basis via the Internet but with no effective supervision.

Last December, one policeman died while looking for 18 missing college students, who made an adventurous trip up Huangshan Mountain of the eastern Anhui Province.

The Beijing Times says now it's necessary for the government to impose effective management on adventurers' activities.
The newspaper echoes China Daily, saying authorities should firstly draw up detailed rules supervising and regulating outdoor activities.

Meanwhile, all adventure activities should be reported to relevant authorities so they can check the qualifications and equipment of participants before approving the activity.

In addition to this, the two newspapers propose the establishment of professional commercial rescue service to alleviate the burden on state-owned rescue service when incidents happen.

In conclusion, the newspapers say that while people can enjoy their adventures they must not waste public rescue resources and put the lives of others at risk.