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For Zhang Guokun, the decision to spend one year of his life teaching secondary school children in one of China’s least developed areas was an easy choice．
He is one of the four students at the University of International Business and Economics(UIBE)who have been chosen to take part in a national educational aid programme．Only one in 10 UIBE applicants(申请人)can have the chance．
Started by the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League in 1999, the programme sends more than 100 college graduates each summer to poor counties in western provinces such as Qinghai, Gansu and Ningxia．There they teach in secondary schools for one year．
Zhang said he is curious to know what people’s lives are like in underdeveloped places．“I love teaching and I would be glad to do something for the children there, ” Zhang Yuan, a Beijing University graduate who returned in August from a year’s teaching in Datong County, Qinghai Province, said the experience has been precious to her．An English major, Zhang, taught English to two senior high school classes．By the end of the school year, the average grades of their students had increased from less than 25 to 46．5, and they ranked No．2 in the whole county．Some of her students who are now in college write to her regularly．
To encourage volunteers, college graduates who spend a year in the educational aid programme are allowed entrance to graduate studies free from the entrance exam．
Another benefit is working experience in the underdeveloped west, a meaning consideration when government offices encourage their employees．
“I took the benefits into account, but helping poor children is a reward enough for me, ” said Zhang Yuan．About 30 percent of the 130 students accepted this year already had gained entrance to graduate schools before they applied for the programme．
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