Establishment of Long-term Mechanism for Preventing Poverty Return through Education in Rural Revitalization in Southern Shaanxi

Xiao’e WANG

Shaanxi University of Technology, Hanzhong 723001, China

Abstract General Secretary of CPC Central Committee Xi Jinping has stated that education must be emphasized in order to fundamentally eliminate poverty and achieve effective linkage with rural revitalization. According to the Outline of China’s Rural Poverty Alleviation and Development (2011-2020), Shaanxi Province has 29 poverty-stricken counties, of which 27 are in southern Shaanxi and 11 are deeply poverty-stricken counties, accounting for nearly 40% of the contiguous poverty-stricken areas in Qinling-Daba mountains. Therefore, the key to poverty alleviation and rural revitalization in Shaanxi lies in southern Shaanxi. Although the current poverty alleviation in southern Shaanxi has achieved remarkable results, there are still high risks and hidden dangers of poverty return. Therefore, taking southern Shaanxi as the field survey point, based on the problem orientation and the main line, this paper deeply explored the common risks and causes of establishing education anti-poverty mechanism to connect with the rural revitalization strategy, and effectively put forward the feasible ideas and countermeasures for establishing long-term mechanism for preventing poverty return through education.

Key words Education, Rural revitalization, Effective connection

1 Introduction

Since General Secretary of CPC Central Committee Xi Jinping has made poverty alleviation a priority in governance and mobilized the entire Party at the 18thNational Congress of the CPC, the whole China and society to fight poverty. By October 2020, remarkable achievements had been made in China’s poverty alleviation efforts, and poverty-stricken areas, especially those in deep poverty, had basically been lifted out and had entered a period of consolidation. However, the potential risks and challenges of returning to poverty should not be underestimated. General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly stressed the importance of eliminating poverty fundamentally, laying a solid foundation and guarantee for rural revitalization, and realizing the strategic goals of rural revitalization. We must attach great importance to the role of education, establish a long-term mechanism for preventing poverty return, and use education to prevent poverty transmission between generations. As the most poverty-stricken area in Shaanxi Province, southern Shaanxi has successfully won the battle against poverty and is at a crucial stage of linking up with rural revitalization. Due to the Qinling-Daba mountains, floods and other natural disasters occur frequently, so we still need to be alert to the crisis of poverty return and regeneration. According to the field survey, therefore, based on the orientation and the main line, we deeply considered education Chinese prevention mechanism linking rural strategy of rejuvenating the common risk and causes, and put forward the effective rural revitalization to prevent poverty return to establish the feasibility of the ideas and countermeasures, and strive to play a role in attracting new ideas from the educational level for rural revitalization in underdeveloped areas.

2 Importance of poverty alleviation through education and its relationship with rural revitalization

2.1 Importance of education in poverty alleviationTo get rid of poverty is not only to get rid of material poverty, but also to get rid of poverty in consciousness and thinking. As early as in the 1980s, General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized the advanced concept of "The poorer a country is, the more it needs education, and the less it does, the poorer it will be" in his bookGettingRidofPoverty[1]. After the Central Poverty Alleviation and Development Work Conference held in 2015, Xi Jinping put forward the idea of poverty alleviation through education, education is the best way to stop intergenerational transmission of poverty, and education is of far-reaching significance to poor areas and must be developed well. While increasing material wealth, efforts are also needed to enrich people’s knowledge[2]. In his report to the 19thCPC National Congress, Xi Jinping clearly pointed out that "we should combine poverty alleviation with support for aspiration and wisdom, deepen cooperation in poverty alleviation between the eastern and western regions, and focus on the task of lifting poverty-stricken areas out of poverty[2]. Xi Jinping’s important statements and ideas on poverty alleviation have pointed out the key position and role of education in poverty alleviation, rural revitalization and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

2.2 Relationship between poverty alleviation through education and rural revitalizationThe report to the 19thCPC National Congress clearly put forward a major strategy for rural revitalization. Subsequently, various economic, cultural, educational and other rural work conferences held by the central government promoted rural revitalization to the height of the comprehensive realization of China’s well-off society and the great rejuvenation of the entire Chinese nation. At the same time, the problem of unbalanced and inadequate development is a concentrated manifestation of the principal contradiction facing Chinese society, of which the imbalance between urban and rural development is the main weakness. The strategy of rural revitalization is a top-level design that focuses on the integration of urban and rural areas and is problem-oriented. Only by realizing the revitalization of rural areas can the great rejuvenation goal of the Chinese nation be truly achieved. A general review and analysis of each requirement and goal of rural revitalization, whether it is industrial prosperity, ecological livable, or local culture, or effective governance and affluent life, all need the support of talents and science and technology, and ultimately depends on the success or failure of education.

In 1960, American economist Theodore Roosevelt Schultz in theEconomicValueofEducationsystematically discussed the theory of human capital, which focuses on laborers’ comprehensive qualities such as knowledge, skills and ability[3]. In the historical process of poverty alleviation in China, the theory of human capital has been constantly verified by practice. The value of poverty alleviation through education is beyond our imagination. Tangible and intangible, realized and currently realized, it exerts an influence in all dimensions. From the perspective of personal development, education is the key means to cultivate the endogenous power of poverty alleviation and the only way for poor groups to lead a better life. From the perspective of social and national development, education is an important means to build a well-off society in an all-round way and to realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. The main body of rural revitalization is a farmer, only to find a way to stimulate endogenous impetus of farmers, to change its inherent poverty culture and way of thinking for a long time, blocking the intergenerational transfer, establishing poverty return prevention mechanism through education, in order to promote poverty reduction results of cement, more effectively and rural revitalization achieve seamless docking, to realize comprehensive revitalization of China.

3 Significance and value of empirical research based on the southern Shaanxi region

3.1 Southern Shaanxi is the key to the consolidation of poverty alleviation in Shaanxi ProvinceFrom April 20 to 21, 2020, Xi Jinping visited Zhashui County of Shangluo city and Pingli County of Ankang City in southern Shaanxi, and put forward important instructions and requirements for the future work of Shaanxi Province, especially poverty alleviation in southern Shaanxi. These are the compass for the future development of education in Shaanxi Province. The most difficult battle in the national poverty alleviation campaign is in the deeply impoverished areas, which are also the areas most vulnerable to returning to poverty after being lifted out of poverty. In 2011, according to theOutlineofChina’sRuralPovertyAlleviationandDevelopment(2011-2020), the state divided a total of 14 contiguous poverty-stricken areas, including the Qinling-Daba Mountains, according to the principle of "centralized contiguous areas, highlighting key areas, nationwide planning, and complete zoning". Qinling-Daba mountains concentrated destitute areas across Henan, Hubei, Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu Province, to reduce the ten counties in Henan, 7 in Hubei, 5 in Chongqing, 15 in Sichuan, 29 in Shaanxi, 9 in Gansu, and those in Shaanxi nearly accounted for 40% of Qinling-Daba mountains concentrated most needy areas, 27 and 29 counties in Shaanxi Province are in the southern region, 11 of them are deep poverty counties. Therefore, the key to poverty alleviation in Shaanxi lies in southern Shaanxi, and the results of poverty alleviation and the establishment of anti-poverty mechanism needs to concentrate in southern Shaanxi.

3.2 Foundation for rural revitalization in southern Shaanxi is relatively weakThe current three areas of southern Shaanxi have basically been lifted out of poverty and achieved gratifying results, but there are still great risks and challenges to consolidate the achievements of poverty alleviation and effectively connect them with rural revitalization. On the one hand, the southern Shaanxi area is mostly mountainous area, the transportation accessibility is poor, the economic foundation is weak for a long time, and the anti-risk ability is not strong. On the other hand, southern Shaanxi is an important national ecological function protection area, which belongs to the restricted development area. The industrial development is restricted, and the economy is difficult to achieve breakthrough progress. Moreover, southern Shaanxi has a long history of agricultural development and superior natural conditions, and the self-sufficient "small-scale peasant" economic cycle is widespread. Many people with economic difficulties are satisfied with the conditions of "sufficient food and adequate living", and they lack the endogenous power to develop industries to increase their income. Therefore, after the three areas in southern Shaanxi have been lifted out of poverty, they have entered a critical period of consolidation and subsequent revitalization. Without proper handling, the adverse effect of "Pendulum Effect" is likely to occur, resulting in the failure of the achievements in poverty alleviation and the rural revitalization within the foreseeable future.

4 Causes for establishing poverty return prevention mechanism through education to connect with the common risks and causes of rural revitalization strategy

Despite years of efforts, Shaanxi Province has made considerable achievements in education development and poverty alleviation through education, laying a foundation for the linkage and promotion of rural revitalization strategy. However, in the field research at the grassroots level, it is found that there are still weaknesses and shortcomings in the education in poverty alleviation and after poverty alleviation, there are not a few risks and hidden dangers facing poverty, and even some aspects are particularly prominent. Therefore, only by establishing an effective mechanism of preventing poverty return through education, can the provincial education system make a smooth transition and effectively connect with the rural revitalization strategy on the basis of consolidating the achievements of poverty alleviation.

4.1 Unbalanced and inadequate development of compulsory education between urban and rural areas and between regions

Unbalanced and inadequate development of compulsory education between urban and rural areas and between regions is likely to lead to the outflow of students in compulsory education in advance, which worsens the shortage of talents in the promotion of local rural revitalization strategy. Shaanxi Province passed the national assessment on the basic balanced development of compulsory education in 2019. It is still in the process of transition and cohesion towards high-quality and balanced development, and the "double education and double education" has not been fully implemented. Affected by economic conditions and location factors, the imbalance and insufficiency of education development between urban and rural areas, developed and less developed areas, and between towns and townships are prominent. There is still a long way to go for high-quality education development. This is easy to cause students and parents in relatively backward areas to worry about the quality of education in this area. Some students and parents express their desire to study in developed areas through other ways and means. This situation is easy to cause the outflow of students in compulsory education stage in advance. For our province such as such just preliminary poverty regions in southern Shaanxi, there has been a vicious cycle of the brain drain phenomenon, both worsen problems of talent structure, making the implementation of the strategy of rejuvenating the local rural and advance need more and higher quality personnel.

4.2 Backward and wrong ideas in traditional cultureUnder the influence of backward and wrong ideas in traditional culture, such as "A good scholar will make an official", "those who toil with their minds make others work for them while those who toil with their hands work for others and serve those who use their minds", parents and students lack rationality and deviation in their cognitive concepts of vocational education. Even after five thousand years of evolution and development, Chinese traditional culture has remained fresh. However, some of these ideas are either feudal residues, or already can’t keep up with the tide of times development and needs. Backward and wrong ideas must be removed and effect a radical cure, otherwise it will be detrimental to the health of the whole society, stable, orderly and strong development. However, this idea is still deeply rooted in the subconscious of some parents and students, which is difficult to be reversed and cured in the short term. This point of view is also confirmed in the survey. In the discussion and household interview in the three places of southern Shaanxi, a certain number of students mentioned that they felt inferior when they were admitted to vocational colleges, and their parents also felt disgraced. Indeed, because some backward and wrong ideas in traditional culture are still very popular, a considerable number of parents and students can neither correctly understand the true meaning of education, nor objectively and rationally analyze themselves, do not correctly choose their own education, unrealistic blindly follow the trend. Although there is a great breakthrough in the reform of high school entrance examination, there is still a long way to change this kind of thinking concept in parents, students and the whole society.

4.3 Flow of talents to developed regionsLong-term pattern of the flow of local talents trained by higher education to developed regions has not been substantially improved, resulting in the structural imbalance of "excess" and "shortage" of talents. The key to the development of the society lies in talents, who besides professional talents also include a large number of college students trained by ordinary higher education. In the early 1990s, the phenomenon of "peacock flying to the southeast" among college students trained by higher education has been discussed and explored in relevant academic theory and practice, pointing out the correct direction for the subsequent training of talents in higher education. It is true that there is rationality and necessity of its existence in a certain historical period, but with the development of society, the main contradiction in China has been transformed into a contradiction between the people’s ever-increasing needs for a better life and unbalanced and inadequate development. Therefore, the college students trained by higher education must also make adaptive adjustments closely in combination with China’s national conditions and the reality of social development, so as not to remain a structural imbalance situation in which talents flow continuously to the "surplus" developed regions while the underdeveloped regions in need of talents are "deficient".

4.4 Shortcomings in the implementation of special education guaranteeMost of the practices that are still carried out by ordinary teachers in towns and townships are too tired to cope with and become a mere formality, accordingly failing to achieve the desired results and undermining the original teaching quality. Special education guarantee is a "cause" that needs long-term investment and systematic planning. At present, affected by comprehensive resource allocation, the development of different regions is obviously different. For example, Ankang City gives full play to the quality and brand advantage of Ankang Sunshine School in special education, and can cooperate with special education centers of counties and districts to provide "one-to-one" and "door-to-door education" for special education groups. But in more special-education relative shortage of resources cities and counties, to enjoy special education groups at the grass-roots level to teach door-to-door service, shall be the responsibility of the villages and towns of ordinary teachers, still not related professional training and guidance, simply to cramming teaching by teaching students according to their actual education ability to teach effectively, make good policies become a mere formality, To some extent, the workload of ordinary teachers increases and the desired results cannot be achieved. As a result, teachers are too tired to cope with tasks and waste their energy and resources, consequently failing to guarantee the original teaching quality of schools.

4.5 Correct world outlook, outlook on life and values needing to be establishedThe education of "strengthening the confidence and helping to acquire knowledge and skills" has made some achievements, but the effect is not good and students should set up correct world outlook, outlook on life and values. "Helping the poor first" is an important instruction and ideological spirit repeatedly emphasized by Xi Jinping in his series of treatises on poverty control[4]. This is not only a remedy and prescription for poverty eradication, but also the key to the successful implementation of the rural revitalization strategy. However, in the empirical research, it is frequently found that some teachers do not pay enough attention to and understand the ideological concept of the education, and the practical effect of supporting and supporting the education is still not good. On the one hand, part of the city school teachers for the villages and towns to document bias of tent card poor students, think its weak foundation in learning, learning, life habits are lacking, worry about the university students by original "negative effect", in the symposium by indirect or direct speech to the class students to a certain level of "prejudice" or even "discrimination". This kind of psychology will not only cause teachers to lack of care for poor students, but also affect other students in the class, which is not conducive to poor students’ life integration. On the other hand, the education of supporting the aspirations of poor students in various stages has made some achievements, most of the students expressed that the staff of the teacher education department and teachers have continuously adopted various methods to encourage students in poverty assistance and help students to establish a correct world outlook, outlook on life and values. However, in actual visits, we can still find that many cases do not want to get rid of poverty and passive poverty, and some students are still dependent on poverty alleviation, which needs to be paid enough attention and reflection.

5 Feasibility and countermeasure analysis of the establishment of poverty return prevention mechanism of rural revitalization education in southern Shaanxi

5.1 Provincial and superior departments should continue to increase efforts in terms of policies, resources and financial input to the areas that have initially been lifted out of poverty

Although the southern Shaanxi region has been lifted out of poverty, there are still serious vulnerabilities in topography, region, weak industrial economic foundation and development mode, which still depend on the preferential policies of funds and resources investment. This is completely consistent with the actual situation raised and appealed by the education departments, governments, parents and students and other industry departments in the three places in southern Shaanxi. All expected ministries and agencies and superior departments in education Chinese prevention mechanism, should continue to increase in southern Shaanxi education spending in Shaanxi Province, teacher preparation and title assess aspects of policy and resources vigorously. Therefore, on the one hand, the education system needs to continuously publicize and implement various education subsidy policies, so that the poor families can understand the relative independence, universality and continuity of education policies. Education development is always on the road, so it is recommended to continue increasing in southern Shaanxi financial support of the development of education industry, the separate charge teacher training and support, the school dining room to buy services for projects such as expenses for projects of building new schools, the campus of mountain area county to give a higher proportion of financial support, ramming foundation for high quality education development.

5.2 Taking the education department as the lead to drive other industry sectors to form a synergy of "same direction, same frequency resonance", and improving the grid-based early warning mechanism of education and anti-poverty monitoringAfter the end of poverty alleviation, education should still be in a prominent position to prevent poverty return. It is recommended that the education department take the lead and coordinate various departments, township offices, and schools to build a grid-based early warning mechanism for education poverty alleviation risk monitoring, avoid separate fight of different departments, strive to form a joint force between the education department and the Disabled Persons’ Federation, civil affairs, social security and other industry departments to form a "same direction, same frequency resonance", focus on the monitoring of orphans, children with disabilities and other special groups. A roster of monitoring households, households with poor families due to special changes, and households with multiple children needs to be established to accurately grasp students’ enrollment and financial assistance. According to multi-dimensional standards such as suspected dropouts, door-to-door education delivery, and out-of-pocket education expenditures of multiple children, red, orange and blue alerts should be activated accordingly to resolve the problems in a timely manner. For example, the education system of Lueyang County has taken the lead in establishing relevant mechanisms. Through the grid detection and "lifetime generation" measures, the target is identified and dynamic management is achieved. The practice of finding and resolving some of the early warning situations has achieved remarkable results, which is worth demonstrating and promoting in the whole province.

5.3 Reforming and innovating rural teacher staffing and professional title evaluation models to enhance teachers’ sense of gain, happiness and security, so that they can truly "retain" and "teach well"As mentioned above, the outflow of excellent talents and local talents is serious, and the teaching profession is no exception. The structural imbalance of the proportion of urban and rural teachers is particularly prominent, which restricts the pace of high-quality development of education in poor counties and regions. Therefore, in order to achieve the balance and integration of urban and rural high-quality education, we must carry out corresponding reform and innovation. It is suggested to further refine the measures for the cultivation and introduction of educational talents, strengthen the work of teacher cultivation and introduction, continuously improve the treatment of rural teachers, improve the relevant research and training and career development system, strengthen the construction of teacher turnover dormitory, and improve the vocational attraction of rural teachers. At the same time, actively guide publicity, absorb the appropriate local talents into the teacher team. In the survey, it was found that Shuanglong Town in Hanbin District of Ankang City has tried and achieved initial results. Most of the teachers in Shuanglong Central Primary School are from local students, and multiple departments of education, finance, human resources and social security work together to ensure that the salary standard is not lower than that of civil servants. In the discussion, these teachers all expressed that the reform made them willing to work in the school for a long time and ensured the stability of the teaching staff. But to completely change the serious problem of "unwilling to retain" of rural teachers, there is an urgent need to use the underdeveloped southern Shaanxi region as a test point for reform and innovation, boldly break through the existing model, and adopt a diversified and flexible approach to the establishment of local rural teachers and the evaluation of professional titles, so as to fundamentally improve teachers’ sense of gain, happiness and security, so that they can truly "retain" and "teach well."

5.4 Consolidating education and the whole society to play a cohesive effect, and caring for the disadvantaged groups in special education to ensure that no one is missed on the way to educationNo matter in the period of poverty alleviation or rural revitalization, disabled students in special education and other vulnerable groups are inseparable from the attention and care of the government, education and society, which is not only an obligatory responsibility and obligation of the whole society, but also a full embodiment of the superiority of China’s socialist system. (i) It is required to strictly follow the principle that poverty relief policies will continue after counties being removed from the poverty list. The probability of children with disabilities in their families is much higher than that of ordinary families, and the foundation of poverty alleviation is weak and the ability to resist risks is poor. If they are careless, they may face the crisis of returning to poverty. Therefore, such groups still need to give priority to education funding after they quit poverty. In accordance with the special needs of disabled students in theSecondPhaseofSpecialEducationPromotionPlan, they should coordinate resources to support disabled students, improve the level of subsidies, and make good use of the education big data platform of Shaanxi Province to ensure the accuracy of funding. (ii) It is recommended to unite the overall strength of the Civil Affairs, Disabled Persons’ Federation and other departments to form a long-term care and assistance system and mechanism. Caring for special education groups is not a "family matter" of the education department. It requires the civil affairs, disabled persons’ federations, health and human resources and social security departments to perform their own functions and at the same time to play a synergistic effect to really achieve the "combination of medicine and education, the combination of recreation and education, and the combination of music and education", so that the special education group can enjoy the most optimized material and spiritual care. (iii) It is recommended to mobilize social forces to establish a comprehensive security system. Social concern for special education groups has existed for a long time, but it is more limited to the state of "donation". This requires education departments to take the lead and rely on special education schools to systematize and standardize social funding for special education, so as to attract more social forces. In addition, it is recommended to encourage and guide social forces to set up special education school, support eligible non-profit social welfare institutions to provide special education for the disabled, support the ordinary university, open university and adult college for students with disabilities to carry out the continue education, support a variety of vocational education and training institutions to strengthen vocational skills training for the disabled, widen and perfect for the lifelong learning. It is recommended to establish an all-round special education guarantee system with "front-line education as the priority and social participation", which ensures that students can attend school, stay on, have a minimum living security, and then get rich.

5.5 Adhering to the direction of "cultivating talents for the Party and the State", creating a new concept of success in the whole society, and cultivating socialist builders and successors with "ideals, abilities, pursuits and shoulders"The establishment of the mechanism of rural revitalization and prevention of poverty return should return to the goal of cultivating socialist builders and successors with "ideals, abilities, pursuits and shoulders". To achieve this goal, our province must carry out top-level design and grasp from the following two aspects, and firmly grasp the soul and core of the mechanism of rural revitalization to prevent poverty return. On the one hand, teachers and education department managers should uphold the firm direction and humanistic sentiments of "cultivating talents for the Party and the State", proceed from the overall strategy, and use the core socialist values to guide and enhance students’ ideological understanding. The concept of moral education proposed by General Secretary Xi Jinping should run through the whole process of compulsory education, secondary vocational education and higher education. On the other hand, to create a new scientific concept of talent in the whole society, to break the erroneous inertial thinking and cultural mode of "A good scholar will make an official", "those who toil with their minds make others work for them while those who toil with their hands work for others and serve those who use their minds", so that everyone in society can fully understand the true meaning and essence of all kinds of education from the ideological level, be able to take a rational and correct view of all kinds of ed-ucation, and truly understand and practice the idea of "every profession produces its own leading authority ", such as "spirit of the craftsman". Thus, it is recommended to promote students to arm themselves with the concept of ideals, abilities, pursuits and shoulders. Both the poverty alleviation through education and strengthening the confidence and helping to acquire knowledge and skills need cultivating talents with patriotic feeling, lofty ideals and beliefs. In fact, we also found gratifying cases. For example, in the door-to-door interview with Xiao’s family in Jinmi Village, Zhashui County, Shangluo City, when asked about children’s future career planning and other development issues, parents were able to rationally and correctly view all types of education. The concept of becoming a talent is more scientific, and teachers have also achieved real teaching and educating, often in-depth interviews with poor students’ families, individual tutoring,etc.In the various club activities carried out in the school, teachers try their best to help students get rid of spiritual and cultural poverty, and pay attention to the cultivation of students’ psychology and ideals and belief, make children who were originally inferior and full of positive energy active and full of positive energy can become socialist builders and successors with patriotic feelings.