How college student village officials can take root in rural areas and become permanent talent

I come from a rural area, and I want to go back too, to use my abilities and do something concrete. But what can we do? Rural areas have no jobs to offer us.

On one hand, agricultural college graduates with associate degrees cannot go back to rural areas; on the other hand, undergraduates and postgraduates who do return to rural areas want to leave, frequently “running away.”

Compared with “carrier pigeon” college student village officials, rural areas need “permanent” college student village officials even more.

If possible, Liu Jian does not want to leave the rural area of Binhai, Jiangsu, at all.

This graduate of the Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine program at Jiangsu Agri-animal Husbandry Vocational College had originally made up his mind to “accomplish something here,” which is why he chose to return to a rural area after graduation. Poultry disease diagnosis and treatment, disease prevention and control, livestock product hygiene inspection…… With his professional background, Liu Jian got the hang of it quickly, following local college student village officials and offering advice to the village's livestock farmers.

But he had no “status.” The more polite people in the village would call him “Xiao Liu,” while some people who did not know him well would call him outright “that hired worker.” Although he was busy every day to the point of “falling asleep the moment he touched the pillow,” his income was something he “did not even want to mention.”

He was not eligible to take the exam to become a college student village official, and could only integrate into rural life as a “hired worker,” an identity with “no real prospects.” Although leading local people to develop agriculture and making good use of his professional knowledge was “a wish” of his, Liu Jian, who “could not see a future,” still chose to leave after persisting for two years.

Liu Jian's departure left Jiang Chunmao, vice president of Jiangsu Agri-animal Husbandry Vocational College, deeply regretful. “How great it would be if students like Liu Jian could stay in rural areas! Most of them come from rural areas, have feelings for agriculture and rural areas, and have professional knowledge that can genuinely help villagers. More importantly, staying in rural areas with peace of mind is exactly what they want.”

Is it hard for “new farmers” to return to villages?

“They cannot serve as village officials. If they can only act as ‘advisers’ to college student village officials, without policy support, how long can they last!” Liu Mingsheng, associate professor at the college's College of Animal Medicine, can well understand his student Liu Jian's choice. In the eyes of this homeroom teacher who has mentored many cohorts of graduates, there are many graduates like Liu Jian. “They have technical advantages, and they have all been tempered in the toughest environments. They are capable of serving as college student village officials.”

The reason he says this has to do with the tempering these “new farmers” have undergone. For example, right now, Liu Jian's junior schoolmates are going through a “trial.” These soon-to-be “new farmers” have been sent to a large chicken farm, dealing with chickens every day in high temperatures of 37 degrees Celsius.

Their work intensity is very high, and their working hours are irregular. Students Wu Ziyan and Qi Jiancheng both often need to get up repeatedly in the middle of the night to check the temperature and humidity of the brooding house. During the day, in a brooding house with an average temperature of 37 degrees Celsius and humidity of 60%, these students need to wear thick light blue work clothes to inject and vaccinate the chicks.

The chicken cages are high and low, and Wu Ziyan sometimes stands on tiptoe and sometimes bends her legs in order to inject accurately. After all this tossing about, sore arms have become the norm, and the light blue work clothes have even been soaked dark blue with sweat.

These tasks are not just simply hard. Artificial insemination emphasizes insemination efficiency, and candling eggs places even more emphasis on being quick-eyed and quick-handed. In order to supplement the students' technical knowledge, after the daytime work every day, Liu Mingsheng and other teachers continue to teach the students. “Practical content, the latest technology, what can be used clinically and what can be used at the grassroots level.” Even a seemingly simple task like collecting eggs requires a sense of rapid classification while collecting them.

“How a farm is managed and operated, which specific technical links need attention, and the supplementation of various professional knowledge - only after experiencing these can one truly return to rural areas and serve villagers well in getting rich.” Liu Mingsheng said.

That said, reality is not entirely satisfactory. The “Jiangsu Provincial Department of Education Employment White Paper” shows that the employment rate of graduates from Jiangsu Agri-animal Husbandry Vocational College has remained above 99% for the past 4 years. In contrast, these employed students “basically went to the production front line, and not many returned to rural areas.” Cao Bin, director of the college's Admissions and Employment Office, introduced that aside from students upgrading from associate to bachelor's degrees or from associate to bachelor's through continuous study, nearly half of the graduates enter large urban farms or engage in the production or sales of veterinary drugs, feed, and biological products.