Night schools reinforce Party

At 6 pm on a recent evening, Xiao Xinling, 62, took her notebook to attend night school with another 57 villagers in Nanyuan village of Tangyin county, in Henan province.

Her classroom was actually an 18-square-meter conference room. Students opened by singing the national anthem and reviewing the oath required to join the Communist Party of China.

"Besides me, about 20 villagers were not Party members, but we were also inspired when listening to the oath," Xiao said.

She took out her notebook and said: "I have copied the oath into my notebook and I hope my grandson will be a Party member in the future."

The class focuses on explaining the report delivered by General Secretary Xi Jinping at the Party's 19th National Congress in October.

Xiao has attended four classes so far.

"It's never too late to learn, and it's just once a week, about one hour long, and I found that the spirit of the report related to our daily lives," Xiao said.

For villagers, attending the night schools, which are organized by local Party members, has become a new habit. They used to stay at home and watch TV.

"The mission of Chinese Communists was to seek happiness for the Chinese people and rejuvenation for the Chinese nation," said Li Jianjun, a Party member in Nanyuan village. "The night school forms a bridge to connect Party members with villagers who are not members, helping them understand the report by taking examples from their daily lives, such as protecting the environment, poverty alleviation and building beautiful villages."

In 2017, Tangyin county was the one of the first in China to organize night schools for villagers. Song Qinglin, Party chief of Tangyin, said he proposed the idea after learning of the report in Beijing.

In fact, the schools of villagers date to an earlier period of the country's history.

"Earlier, we had literacy classes and farmers' schools in the village. However, they are also suitable for contemporary life, because studying the spirit of the 19th National Congress applies to all villagers, not only to Party members," Song said.

The county has seen a rising number of villagers going to night schools since November. The activity takes place in 298 villages in Tangyin involving more than 100,000 villagers.

"It is exceeding our expectations," Song said, adding that the classes have attracted the attention of villagers, including Party members, farmers, shop owners and returned migrant workers.

"More infrastructure for the night schools is planned to be built in the next step," he said.