Life of Guangzhou - Guangzhou College Allows Students to Leave for Work

Nearly 30 percent of the students at the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts (GAFA) come from poor families, a proportion significantly higher than the national average.

To offset financial hardship, the college has provided students with a new way to pay their tuition. Students are now allowed to leave school for work, as long as they finish their studies within eight years. Eighty-nine students have since paid off their tuition fees, the Information Times reported.

A total of 5,600 undergraduate and postgraduate students attend GAFA, 28 percent of whom are classified as poor and 13 of whom are classified as very poor. The cost of studying the arts is very high, and includes many additional expenses. A regular college student will usually pay around 60,000 yuan (US$8,768.22) for four years of study, but an arts student usually pays around 120,000 yuan.

The National Student Loan provides recipients with a maximum of 6,000 yuan per year, which falls far short of the total tuition cost. Many students have been failing to repay their tuition loans even after graduation.

Three steps in the new program will alleviate the burden on poor students. In the first year, students who have been certified "poor" can study for free. In their second and third years, the school will set them up with jobs. In the fourth year, the school will suggest the students leave school to work, with approval from the Teaching Affairs Office, provided that they return to the classroom within four years.

Mo Chaolue is a second year student at GAFA who began working in Shanghai in January. His parents are unemployed so he works two jobs to pay for his tuition.

Xiao Chen is a third year student majoring in animation who works at a studio not far from school. "I have learned a lot from work, and when I have earned enough money to pay my tuition, I will go back to school to continue my studies."

"What happens in GAFA is a milestone in education system," Li Xiaolu, deputy director of the Education Department of Guangdong Province, said. "It provides the best way to students to make a living all by themselves, and the government will undoubtedly continue supporting GAFA."

[More Guangzhou News]