Around 150,000 Chinese college graduates will find employment at grass roots level this year, according to the Ministry of Education.

 

Students' ambitions will be guaranteed by preferential policies which encourage and guide them to go to the grass roots, Liu Dawei, an official of the Ministry of Education said on Wednesday.

 

More than 4,000 graduate students have filed their applications to go the underdeveloped western region in just one day, he said.

 

Going to "grass roots" has a wide meaning in China. It includes working in the less-developed western region, underprivileged towns and rural areas, urban communities, medium and small companies, and opening companies by oneself, all of which are traditionally seen as less prestigious jobs after higher education in China.

 

The government will also give students who work at grass roots level tangible rewards as well as moral praises, said Wang Xuming, a ministry spokesman.

 

There will be 4.13 million college graduates this year, Zhou Ji, Minister of Education said earlier this year.

 

(Xinhua News Agency April 20, 2006)