“Though quite a few university students are going to work in rural communities, most of them wish to return to a city to work for the government after that. Therefore, despite their presence in the countryside, they are mentally preparing themselves for the civil-service examination.” For Director Yang Pengwei of the Education Centre for Party Members of the Nanyue District CPC in Hengyang City, Hunan Province, keeping people in the countryside is a headache. He says, “We rely on those who remain to help improve life in rural areas”.

According to the requirements stated by General Secretary Xi Jinping at the 19th CPC National Congress, basic services in rural communities will be strengthened through the training of service workers with a good knowledge of agriculture, love of rural areas, and fellow-feeling for rural people. But how should cadres “who can remain and do good work” for rural revitalisation and the construction of beautiful rural areas, and farmers with technological skills, management expertise, and the ability to innovate be trained? In some places, the new trend is for farmers to go to university; this brings a sense of fulfillment to people from rural areas who left school in junior or senior high school. They can remain in their home areas while still having access to the latest technology and management expertise.

Equipped with these, farmers can take the lead in achieving prosperity.

The Changjiang Township in Hengshan County, Hunan Province, is a major production base for bamboo and wood products in southern Hunan. In 2003, Luo Liren from Tuotang Village in this township returned to open a bamboo and wood processing plant. Though only 25 at the time, she had already worked as a substitute teacher and bus-company manager after finishing high school, and her rich experience enabled her to deal well with the management of the processing plant. Nevertheless, as it grew, she began to feel things getting beyond her abilities.

In 2004, the Open University of China (the OUC, and the former China Central Radio and TV University) initiated a programme called “One College Student Per Village”. The training of rural college students began to take place by way of modern distance education. In 2007, Luo Liren entered the programme at Hengyang Radio and TV University (RTVU) as a Rural Administration major. The style has to be changed from single operation to diversified development and the production has to be changed from popular taste to private customisation, and sales need to “settle down” on the internet……With the valuable experience of learning from her teachers at the RTVU, Luo Liren was able to find her way again. A shed less than 100 square meters in size was replaced by a factory more than ten times that size. In 2014, her annual sales hit 7 million yuan; more than 40 villagers were able to find jobs in their hometown because of her, and 26 households became wealthy as a result.

As a reliable leader, Luo Liren has been elected to the Tuotang CPC Village Branch Committee and Tuotang Village Committee, first as secretary of the Youth League, then as chair of the Tuotang Village Women’s Federation. In Hunan, the “One College Student Per Village” programme has trained many leaders to work in villages and apply their knowledge of management and technology. By 2014, the OUC Hunan Branch (Hunan RTVU) alone had admitted a total of 67,160 students to the “One College Student Per Village” programme, covering all the administrative villages in Hunan. Of them, 85 percent are serving as village cadres, and 60 percent have become local leaders.

With capable cadres, villagers have more hope.

In Huaihua, Hunan Province, township and village organizations used to be controlled mainly by a handful of powerful families. Gradually, however, with their effect on village prosperity, ‘farmer university students’ gained prestige, and villagers began to look to them for leadership. Bringing rural organizations under the rule of law has not been easy, as President Deng Ansheng of Huaihua RTVU has pointed out.

Secretary Long Siqing of the Guchong Village Party Branch in the Huaihua region has held the position for 15 years. When she first took office, she was not held in high esteem. “The village was loaded with debt, and there were all kinds of conflicts. I was busy all the time, but nothing much improved,” she says.

Ms. Long found a way to organise Party participation in the “One College Student Per Village”programme. “Each Party member is given a defined position and responsibilities, leaders sign letters of commitment, and nine positions are set up for Party members with no leadership responsibilities; these include agricultural sales and poverty alleviation. Our group efforts are showing both economic and political benefits.” With the economy thriving, the prestige of the village Party Branch has been established.

“Farmer university students” are bridging the Party organisations and rural communities. In the registration records of the “One College Student Per Village”programme in Huaihua City, village cadres made up more than 60 percent of the total. In the election of the village Party-branch committee and village committee this year, it was determined that each village should have one rural college student elected to the leadership of the two committees. These students learn not only about business and technology, but also take practical courses in the fields of Party building, law, science and finance. In this way, not only is the capacity for fighting poverty and achieving prosperity in rural areas developed, but progress is also made toward promoting rural law-based management,” said Xu Zhaoqiao, director of the Party Training Center of the Organization Department of the Hengyang City CPC Committee.

Behind the advances of the “One College Student Per Village” programme lies the support of the organisation department. It was made clear in Hunan Province in 2014 that the tuition costs of rural college students would be shared by the government and individual students. It was also specified that the students would pay no more than 30 percent. Their training is included in the performance assessments of the Party and of government bodies at the city and county levels.

According to statistics kept by the OUC, of the 1,516 county-level study centers for “One College Student Per Village” programme, there were 967 in western and central areas, accounting for 63.9 percent, by the end of 2016. Training in poverty alleviation was intended as a foundation. OUC president Yang Zhijian has indicated that further steps would be taken in terms of specialised setups, curriculum, teaching models, information technology, teaching practice, the credit bank and examination reform, with the ultimate goal of optimising the training of rural college students.

By Liu Bochao, Yao Xiaodan, Guangming Daily