OCEF offers a variety of programs across over 20 provinces in rural China, including Comprehensive Support, Financial Aid, High School Scholarship, Teacher Aid, School Construction and Library programs.
- Comprehensive Support Program
Since the beginning of 2010, OCEF has initiated strategic restructure of the funding programs, moving from direct financial assistance to a more comprehensive support system that aims at improving the quality of education in rural China, nurturing Chinese students to be educated citizens capable of independen thinking, and to bring the joy of education to the local community, thereby changing it over the longer term.
- Financial Aid Program
In China, despite the recent years of substantial economic growth, there are still areas where primary/middle school students drop out of schools due to severe financial hardship. To help these students return to the classrooms, OCEF provides financial aid packages covering books, fees, and other school related expenses. Within the Financial Aid program, donors may choose to participate in the “one-on-one” project by designating an individual student for each sponsorship with future follow up communications (click here for more details).
Guidelines for Financial Aid Program: Application, Reviewing and Distribution (PDF, Word) - High School Scholarship Program
While the Chinese government has been enforcing the 9-year mandatory education with additional funding, as well as providing loans to college students, high school education remains a critical, yet, weak link. Many students are being forced to drop out of high school because of poverty, even though they perform well in school and are likely to be admitted to college. The OCEF High School Scholarship Program was initiated in 2004, designed primarily to support high school students in the most underprivileged areas in China (click here for more details).
- Teacher Aid Program
A large number of primary schools in the remote rural regions of China rely on the “Rural Teachers" as faculty. Rural Teachers are usually better educated than average villagers; however, not satisfying the requirements to qualify as chartered teachers paid by the government. Rural Teachers are vital to the primary schools in rural regions, as very few chartered teachers are willing to work at those locations. Rural Teachers are often times overloaded with critical responsibilities, while paid extremely poorly without any supplemental benefit. Nonetheless, many Rural Teachers choose to stay on the job, wholeheartedly dedicated to teach the children. The OCEF Teacher Aid program was launched in March 2006, providing financial aids to Rural Teachers mainly for two purposes: (1) to improve their living conditions, and (2) to facilitate their professional trainings (click here for more details).
- Library Program (flowchart)
Many children in remote rural regions of China have never read any book other than their textbooks, let along movies or other media channels. Since year 2003, OCEF volunteers in rural China contacted schools in need of books and helped them apply for OCEF sponsorship. At the same time, volunteers in urban China ran book drives to collect donated books and negotiated with publishers to purchase books with discounts. OCEF volunteers also assisted the school in setting up these libraries based on their specific circumstances, such as scale and needs.
- School Program
In villages there are schools, many teachers and students risk their lives studying in the rundown classrooms. Moreover, in mountainous regions, many children are too young to walk over two hours to attend school, thus postponed or end up never going to school. The OCEF School Program was established to improve or rebuild the rundown classrooms in rural China. Up till now, constructions have been funded under “Special Projects” based on donor designations (click here for more details).
Program Inspections: OCEF conducts site-visits to inspect OCEF sponsored programs, during which the inspectors examine the status of aid recipients, confirm the proper use of all aid money, and verify that the schools have followed OCEF policies in the prescreening of aid applicants and in the disbursement of aid. The majority of the local funding programs are inspected every other year. OCEF members and donors are encouraged to participate in the operations of the foundation, including inspection fieldwork. Here is a sample inspection summary (PDF, Word).
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