On March 26, the MOE held a video conference on poverty eradication through education, as part of an effort to implement instructions given by President Xi at the symposium on securing a decisive victory over poverty on March 6, and to enhance accountability and deploy targeted measures to lift the country’s last 52 poor counties (especially six extremely poor regions) out of poverty. Minister of Education Chen Baoshen chaired the conference and delivered a speech.

Chen stressed that, as a vital part of the efforts toward an all-round moderately prosperous society, making poverty eradication a reality as planned by the end of this year was essential, whilst also overcoming the challenges posed by the unexpected COVID-19 outbreak.

To achieve this goal, he called on governments at different levels to fulfill their different but complementary roles: the central government should design overall plans, offer guidance and enhance supervision over work on all fronts; provincial governments should mobilize resources and increase support to the remaining poor counties; and the city- and county-level governments should implement all policy measures regarding poverty alleviation, especially ensuring the full coverage of compulsory education. Chen further underscored the importance of consolidating the outcomes in poverty eradication and reinforcement of accountability to ensure the effectiveness of work.

It was decided at the conference that seven members of MOE leading party group were to conduct field investigations and offer guidance, if necessary, in the 52 counties to push forward their poverty relief efforts.

Leaders from Butuo County, Lanping County, Ninglang County, Xiji County, and Education Departments of Sichuan Province, Yunnan Province and Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region also delivered speeches at the conference.