The “Intelligent Micro School” Project (智能微校), sponsored by the China Youth Development Foundation (中国青少年发展基金会) and Baidu, was officially launched in Beijing this Tuesday. The project uses the platform provided by the internet to help construct new schoolhouses in rural areas.
On the same day, the “Intelligent Micro School” (http://5yuan.cydf.org.cn) website was also launched. Through this website, people can “upvote” the schoolhouse design they like and donate money to support it. Baidu will then match the donation with an equivalent sum. That is to say that if someone donates 5 yuan, the Baidu foundation will donate 5 yuan as well. All the donations will add to the special fund for Project Hope, which is used to construct new schoolhouses.
Yang Xiaoyu, the Standing Secretary-General of the China Youth Development Foundation, said that the project will focus on primary schools in remote villages because these kinds of schools represent the biggest weakness of the compulsory education system in rural China. Improving the conditions of elementary and secondary education in rural areas is of great significance to achieving educational equality.