Empowerment Through Education
a student-run, international nonprofit organization fighting education inequality
est. 2022
About ETE
Founded by Isabelle Qi and Olivia Chen, Empowerment Through Education (ETE) is a student-run, international non-profit organization based in New Jersey. We seek to raise awareness to the plight of schools in rural China.
These schools face widespread funding and staffing issues, leading children - especially girls - to receive little to no education. Ultimately, this contributes to the increasing economic gap between rural and urban areas of China.
ETE hopes to spur short-term education and long-term economic improvement, providing students with new opportunities and greater resources. Language opens doors to the future, and by sharing books and materials from diverse sources with students, particularly girls, we hope to expand their worldview and broaden their opportunities.
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We bring Education, Economics, and Equality together in support of a common goal: to provide better opportunities for underprivileged students with a focus on girls.
Learn more about ETE and our cause by exploring our website!
China's Rural-Urban Education Gap
What's going on?
The Statistics
The Causes
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(1) Most students in rural areas drop out of school after the mandatory nine years of education.
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(2) Rural residents often suffer from financial troubles but must still pay the expensive costs of education on their own in order to receive more schooling.
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(3) Parental pressure and familial needs may obligate students to finish education early so they can provide for their families.
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Upon reaching high school, 60% of rural children drop out of school due to the costs.
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60 million children are left in villages with only themselves and relatives, with parents leaving for urban cities.
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Lack of parental supervision causes 13% of students to drop out by the eighth grade.
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Just 50% of rural students have reliable internet access.
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Nearly 1/3 of rural students are completely cut off from learning.
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Rural schools experience staffing issues - younger graduates are cheaper to hire but have less experience.
The Effects
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(1) People in rural regions are left behind. Social class divisions grow even wider.
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(2) The financial costs prove too much to handle and students drop out as a result.
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(3) The economic inequality between rural and urban residents continues to grow more severe. This is a negatively self-reinforcing cycle.
Our Story
Isabelle and Olivia have volunteered with the Edison Metro Lions Club organization for over four years, teaching under-privileged students in rural provinces of China how to speak English. But just teaching wasn't enough: Isabelle and Olivia wanted to expand their impact. Thus, ETE was born, a project devoted to combatting poor education quality for students of migration workers from rural areas of China.
What We Do
ETE's work primarily focuses on raising money to support the education of children of migration workers from rural parts of China, particularly those at the K-12 level. We are a student-led organization hoping to help our underprivileged peers get the opportunities they deserve.