Women setting their sights higher in Xinjiang

Educational efforts

When Pan Yulian moved back to Shule county, Kashgar prefecture, in 1992, she caught some children in her community misbehaving during the summer vacation.

She asked them what they were doing, and the children said they had nothing to do and there was nobody at home. She said they could come to her house and she would show them how to speak some words in Mandarin and read a few characters.

The children followed her home, marking the start of Pan's efforts to help local young people through free education, particularly those without anyone to look after them during the day.

Pan, 79, has helped more than 2,000 elementary school-aged children in her community, who have attended her classes to learn Mandarin, math and what she terms "fundamental manners and values".

"You have to learn how to be a good person before doing anything else," said Pan, who has never demanded payment for her efforts and whose only requirement is that students try their best.

Xinjiang has set a goal for women of primary working age to receive on average 10.8 years of education, and for those joining the workforce to have 13 years of education, according to the outlines for women's and children's development in the region for 2011-2020. This document also states that Xinjiang should aim to have 35 percent of female high school graduates accepted into higher educational institutions.

Some of Pan's female students have been accepted by such institutions, attending universities in distant cities such as Shanghai.

Two potential college students－Uygur girls wearing pretty dresses－stood alongside Pan. Speaking softly in Mandarin, they said they were 8 years old and did homework after classes with Pan.

"Teaching these young kids makes me happy," Pan said. "When they grow up and learn to behave, they can help their families."