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Poor county extends compulsory education
陜西貧困縣實現15年免費教育

The county has seen a sharp increase in the number of preschool students since it began offering the courses for free this autumn. [File photo]
2011年秋天實行免費教育后，寧陜縣幼兒園學生數量激增。[資料圖片]

Ningshan County, nestled deep in the Qinling Mountains of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, has extended its compulsory education program to 15 years, offering local students free schooling from kindergarten to high school.	今年，位于秦嶺深處的陜西省寧陜縣在貧困地區率先實現了15年義務教育。就此，當地學生從幼兒園到高中15年間的教育均免費。
That's six more years than the national compulsory education system requires. What's more, the local government has achieved the expanded schooling program with total fiscal revenue of just 30 million yuan (US$4.72 million) in 2010, spending 13 million yuan on the program – nearly 40 percent of its annual revenue, more than triple the 12.5 percent spent on education nationwide.	這比國家推行的九年制義務教育多出了6年。2010年，這個名不見經傳的山區小縣財政收入僅為3000多萬元，投在教育上的資金則高達1300余萬元，占全縣地方財政收入的40%左右，遠高于12.5%的全國平均水平。
"Development of education is a priority project aimed at improving people's lives," Chen Lunbao, party secretary of Ningshan County, said. "Although it doesn't work immediately, children are always the hope for both the country and its families."	“發展教育是民生工程的頭等大事，雖然見效較慢，但不論是對國家還是對家庭而言，孩子永遠都是希望所在。”寧陜縣委書記陳倫寶說。
Since 2007, this poor county has been taken a number of steps to improve local education.	自2007年起，這個貧困縣開始了改變教育貧困的一次次嘗試和革新。
Zhang Dengqin, a 12-year-old girl at Tangping Primary School, gets free hot food at school. Four years ago, the school, like many others in the county, had no canteens. Most students lived on campus and had to bring their own food with them to the school each week.	12歲的張登琴在湯坪小學終于吃上了免費的熱飯。四年前，這個小學還像縣里的其他學校一樣，沒有食堂。大部分學生住在學校，每周需自帶干糧。
Visiting villages on a winter day in 2007 as part of an inspection tour, Chen, then county mayor, came across a group of boarding students on their way to school.	2007年的一個冬日，時任寧陜縣縣長的陳倫寶下鄉調研，偶遇一群正走在返校路上的寄宿學生。