Ireland contributed a donation of 50,000 yuan (about US$6,000)
to a vocational school in Beijing for children from families of
migrant workers in the city.
Conor Lenihan TD, Irish minister of state at the department of
foreign affairs, visited the Beijing BN Vocational School Friday,
and presented the donation.
The vocational school opened last year as the first of its kind
in the capital city to offer free practical skills training to
children of migrant workers from rural areas.
The school basically relies on volunteer service and donations
of corporations, institutions and individuals, and offers free
classes, textbooks, uniforms and meals to students.
The school has recruited 84 students, aging from 16 to 20, from
21 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities. These students
reside here with their parents, who work in this capital city with
an average monthly income of less than 300 yuan (US$37) per family
member.
The students at this school can choose such majors as home and
property management, plumbing and air-conditioning, and technical
maintenance and electrician.
Teachers at this school all work voluntarily, and are highly
professional as well. They are professors from universities, or
experts in their fields.
The Irish embassy to China donated another 50,000 yuan (about
US$6,000) to the school last year, in an effort to help its English
teaching. The fund was spent building a language lab in the
school.
(Xinhua News Agency March 18, 2006)