Hamburg > To mark International Literacy Day on 8th September 2008, Bertelsmann AG and the child-focused organization Plan International have initiated a school project in the region hit by the Chinese earthquake: Bertelsmann will contribute more than €610,000 to the rebuilding of a school as well as to a school development program mounted by the child-focused organization in Shaanxi Province. This sum is the result of a €500,000 donation pledged by the company, plus donations by Bertelsmann employees in numerous countries, which were then matched by the Bertelsmann AG Executive Board.

The money will go to finance the rebuilding of “Guangping Junior Middle School” in southwest Shaanxi, under the lead management of Plan. Nine hundred children between the ages of 11 and 15 years are to attend the reconstructed school to be reopened next September (2009). Bertelsmann will also contribute to Plan’s long term program “Shaanxi School Improvement Education Program,” which focuses on training and coaching teachers at rural schools.

Bertelsmann Chairman & CEO Hartmut Ostrowski declared: “I’m very glad that, with the support of our employees, we can help the most vulnerable of the earthquake victims, the children, look to the future again. Our employees, and our company as a whole, sent a signal of solidarity and social responsibility. We deliberately picked Plan International as our partner. The children’s relief organi-zation works internationally and can draw on long years of experience in China. We want to work with Plan to lastingly improve the educational opportunities of the girls and boys in the Chinese regions hit by the earthquake.”

“Plan thanks Bertelsmann for the generous donation and the support of its employees,” emphasizes Marianne M. Raven, National Director Plan Germany. “It is very important for the people in south-west Shaanxi Province that the schools be restored again. But an improved infrastructure alone isn’t enough. Lasting change can only be achieved if we also improve the quality of education. That is why we are training teachers, adjusting curricula, and actively involving students in the lessons. Parents are also being motivated to commit themselves to their sons’ and daughters’ educations. Plan’s great strength lies in getting children and their families involved at all stages of a project.”

On 12th May 2008, Sichuan Province was the site of the heaviest earthquake to hit China in 30 years. The southwest of neighboring Shaanxi Province was also hard hit. China’s government de-clared the region a national disaster area in the aftermath of the earthquake. Plan supplied emer-gency aid and is now involved in rebuilding the schools in Shaanxi.

Further information is available under www.plan.de ^[1]