In Lilong Village, Xinluhe town, Zhongfang county, 39-year-old village secretary, Yang Xiuhe, has enrolled at Huaihua Radio and Television University (Huaihua RTVU), which added to the number of college students in the village.
On 15th September 2017, the Organisation Department of Zhongfang County Party Committee revealed to the reporter that, since 2016, the county has started the “Rural College Student Training Programme” and the number of students has reached 108.
The “Rural College Student Training Programme” mainly covers cadres or reserve cadres, members of the Communist Party of China(CPC), and activists who want to join the CPC at the Village Party Branch Committee and Villagers’ Committee (‘Two Committees’ in short) and whose registered permanent residence is within the jurisdiction of Zhongfang County. Through two and a half years’ of study, the trainees met the requirements for graduation and were issued an the open education diploma from the Open University of China (OUC). Last year, after Yang Xiuhe heard about the Rural College Student Training Program, he signed up for the class immediately.
In May 2015, Yang Xiuhe established the Yulong Ecological Farming and Breeding Cooperative to grow red heart kiwi fruit.
During class, after the teacher talked about brand awareness, Yang Xiuhe was inspired and said: "Without brand awareness, the quality of the fruit cannot be guaranteed. This could lead to confusion about prices and cause losses for growers."
So, right after the class Yang Xiuhe went to register his own trademark, Houliange.
"We can gain knowledge in so many different ways. Sometimes the farm itself is the classroom." As far as Yang Xiu is concerned, learning knowledge and technology is only one level. On the other hand, the greater harvest is that, as a village cadre, he has liberated his mind, expanded his horizons, and made it clear that he will lead everyone out of poverty. He believes that in order for Lilong village to remove its name from the list of provincial-level poverty alleviation villages, it must develop industry.
Today, Yang Xiuhe’s Cooperative is growing larger and larger, with 40 households, including nine poor households, having joined. The villagers all treat him with high esteem. Yang Yingyi, who is from a poor family, is now able to work at a nearby Cooperative. He commented: "Our Village Secretary had a better vision than others since he went to the university. He developed the Cooperative, not just to show what he could do but also to show the other farmers what they could do."
"The Rural College Student Training Programme is one of the systematic projects being implemented in all of the villages and townships in the county. It will train a number of high-quality practical talents for the construction of a new socialist countryside and a group of practical party cadres for service-oriented party organisations at the grassroots level," a relevant person in charge of the Organisation Department of Zhongfang county said. The goal of the programme is to strive to cultivate at least one college student for the Two Committees of each of the administrative villages in the County by 2020. The number of people participating in the training program each year should be no less than 20% of the total number of people in the administrative villages. Seamless coverage of college students has been realised in each of the villages.
By Lei Hongtao and Xiao Bei,Hunan Daily