Bianjie

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Ministry of Education announces investments in the development in rural areas
11 September 5649



Ministry of Education will attribute about 1,2 billion g'an for the development of the education institutions in rural areas, the ministry spokesperson Zhelan Cigiya announced early in the Thursday morning. "The ministry is currently reviewing previous requests done by the local provincial governemnts, and analysing the data we have ourselves to see which areas require our direct help the most", Cigiya stated. "In some cases, we will send the funding directly to the county authorities, or the institutions themselves, and in other, the funding will go to provincial education departments for further distribution". MOE's spokesperson emphasised that the attributed funds will primarily address the lack of schools in rural areas by construction new ones and reopening previously abandoned educational facilities.

Additionally, as the Ministry of Education made its announcement, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transportation released their own statement talking about the future cooperation between the ministries on the issue. Statement included ministry's plans to improve accessibility to remote areas through repairing or building rural roads, as well as the expansion of public transit routes connecting rural settlements with the nearby urban areas. "It is our belief that the education and infrastrure must go hand-in-hand", the statement reads. "There is no prosperity and development, if the schools are unable to be accessed safely and reliably. There is no investment and interest in the areas with bad infrastructure. And that is why it is in our best interests to make sure we go together in this".

The joint government also plans to address rural utility shortages, as a part of the bigger rural development strategy appoved earlier this year. In cooperation with the state-owned Befucom and Bianjie Electricity Company, government will be expanding, and in some places providing the electricity and broadband access to rural schools currently lacking the services. A special government program, expected to be launched later this week, will provide the solar panels for the schools in mountainous areas with harder access.

And to keep all that in tact, without any chance of corruption, government will be creating a technocrat oversight commission, to look after the funds sent to local governments, ensuring transparency and accountability in the use of the large funding package issued by the State Council, secretary-general of the government Shui Meng confirmed to Gemun Times earlier.



Gemun Post (ゲムンポスト) is a major (previously local) daily newspaper based in Gemun.
(@GemunPost)
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#infrastructure
#ruraldevelopment