Educational public welfare the way forward

In the past two months donations received by the domestic education sector exceeded 3 billion yuan ($421.59 million). Zhejiang University received more than 1 billion yuan, the University of Science and Technology of China 200 million yuan and Wuhan University 1.3 billion yuan.

Over the past decade, universities have begun to attach importance to donations while companies and entrepreneurs have shown a greater sense of social responsibility. According to a 2022 report, from 2015 to 2020, around 78 university foundations received a total amount of 30.36 billion yuan in donations.

However, the institutions that provide basic and preschool education receive limited donations. Compared to universities, which can develop alumni donations, the ability of basic education schools to attract donations is limited. There is a need for public welfare organizations to mobilize enterprises and entrepreneurs to donate to these schools and institutions, which can use the funds for curriculum development, teacher training, etc.

As the nation increases investment in education, domestic education donations have shifted their focus from providing student subsidies in the less-developed regions to improving the quality of education and research in major universities, and enhancing the fairness and justice in the allocation of educational resources in the country.

This sets higher requirements for the public welfare organizations. Instead of just providing funding to schools, they now need to engage in teacher training, develop school-based curricula, design campus activities, offer guidance on family education and more. All of this broadens the space for educational philanthropy, making it more challenging.

However, it's worth expanding this sphere to drive educational reform and development, as it has a bearing on the nation's future.