Plan for the implementation of school aid to minority students in Gongshan County

_{Scholarship program in Gongshan County, Yunnan Province}

Gongshan is in the northwest of Yunnan Province, located in the Hengduan mountain range, to the east are the Biluoxueshan mountain range, in the center are the Gaoligongshan mountains, and to the west are the mountains Dandalijiashan, the Nu River and the Dulong River, forming a setting of unparalleled natural landscape. The highest altitude of this prefecture is 5128 meters, the minimum altitude of 1,170 m, so that the difference in altitude is 3958 meters. "A mountain conditions the 4 seasons, the weather is different every 10 miles" is a way to describe how special this Gongshan area is. Gongshan County has 4 municipalities and 1 city, 26 official villages, 243 natural villages with population and comprises a total area of ​​4506 km square. The population density is 7.2 inhabitants per square kilometer, and has several ethnic minorities that have been living here for generations such as Dulong, Nu, Tibetan, Lisu and other ethnic minorities living in the border. All this has caused the level of socio-economic development of Gongshan area is lower than that of the interior of China, development bases are weak, and therefore can not compare or compete with inland or coastal areas developed. The county has more than 33,000 inhabitants, of which 11,000 still have problems to solve their most basic needs of food and clothing and poverty rates reach 40%.

Widespread poverty also exacerbates educational backwardness. Many students drop out of school, even though the state gives them completely free education under compulsory education, but there are many extra costs, such as fuel costs, examination fees and training materials, and other expenses, that at the end of a year may total more than 300 RMB, which for many families, such as families of orphans, families, single parents, families with school-age children 2-4, families with parents elderly or families with sick or families without land to cultivate, is certainly a heavy burden. Therefore, to help the children of these families to go to school, the school San Pablo de Macau has created a program to help ethnic minorities in Yunnan Province. The theme of this project is "Give a helping hand to build hope", after several visits, from 2006, have selective financing plans for students from poor families.