Financial wisdom
Ningshaan has been a state-level impoverished county for many years. With a population of 74,000, the county's revenue was only 30.75 million yuan ($4.75 million) last year, and the government spent roughly two-fifths of its income on education, reported Xinhua.
That amount of money was not sufficient to pay over 800 local teachers, whose salaries would cost the government at least 67 million yuan ($10.4 million) every year.
Wu Damang, the county's deputy mayor who is in charge of the education sector, revealed that educational appropriations mainly come from transfer payments by the superior government. In 2011, the amount of transfer payments have reached 190 million yuan ($29.4 million), so the county's disposable financial budget is 220 million yuan ($34 million), including the allocation for itself of about 30 million yuan ($4.6 million).
With an average increase anticipated for the annual transfer payments, Ningshaan County made a brave decision to squeeze out three to four million yuan to cover tuition fees for senior middle schools.
The policy of free 15-year compulsory education can be ensured by the government, but only on the condition that there won't be any major policy adjustments of transfer payments.
Forced experiment?
Many say Ningshaan's innovative move was forced; since it has long lacked a strong economic foundation, the county has no choice but to find other ways to get ahead.
Though it has fallen behind in terms of transportation, information and resources, Ningshaan has never given up on improving itself through various means. This time, its 15-year free schooling policy makes it stand out from the country's 592 poverty-stricken counties, and may bring about new opportunities for development.
And because economically developed areas have yet to make similar moves, Ningshaan's case may be worth learning from.
