Vehicles for Reading—Open the Door to Education

仝博 趙麗萍 胡珍珍

【Abstract】This paper aims to introduce the programme of Vehicles for Reading， dealing with the goal of Quality Education proposed in UNSDG. This paper presents statistics on reactions through surveys and document research， etc. and explores the feasibility of the programme through discussions.

【Key words】quality education； Vehicles for Reading； feasibility

【作者簡介】仝博，趙麗萍，胡珍珍，東北財經大學。

1. Introduction

Academic resources are allocated in an imbalanced way. At present， in Sub-Saharan Africa， more than half of children are not enrolled in school； 781 million adults and 126 million adolescents around the world lack basic literacy skills. Therefore， we propose the programme of Vehicles for Reading by placing old books in either mobile or fixed End-of-life Vehicles（ELVs）.

This essay probes into the feasibility of the programme with various methods. Presenting the results and discussions， this essay concludes that the programme will contribute to sustainable development and quality education.

2. Research Methods

The basic methods include questionnaire and interviewing method， literature analysis method， qualitative analysis method and comparative analysis method.

3. Results

We got 36 samples in total， 22 of which are from Chinese. The questionnaire results will be analyzed from basic information statistics and opinion information.

As for basic information statistics

age distribution—for 15-25， two samples data are respectively 86% and 93%， younger people concentrate more on the proposal of reading and quality education.

occupation distribution—for Chinese sample， there are 19 full-time students， 1 part-time student and 2 workers. For English sample， the corresponding value is 13， 0 and 1.

As for opinion information

71% foreigners and 100% Chinese agree that people around the world should have equal access to quality education. But 9% Chinese and 7% foreigners disagree on that. About 80% people believe that our project is feasible while 20% doubt about management and expenses. For the projects fund source， Chinese agree more on public sponsorship while foreigners agree more on governmental support.

4. Discussions

4.1 Merits

First of all， the programme helps achieve sustainable development. Since both ELVs and old books are effectively reused， we will save energy by not using melters or shredders. Also， forests will be conserved for that. Furthermore， the programme helps promote quality education. Vehicles for Learning will open free to the public indiscriminately. Mobile vehicles can reach several plats in a relative densely-populated area while fixed ones will allow residents in a sparsely-populated area， so that people of different plats will take full advantage of the book resources..

4.2 Demerits

To begin with， expenses on the programme may be high. Such expenses include acquisition， maintenance， renewal， and disposal of the needed vehicles and books， costs for advertising as well as salaries for personnel in charge of those elements. Additionally， it takes effort to manage the resources. An association for Vehicles for Reading must be set up. Since team building will be preceded by preparatory work and be followed by financing， much energy and time will be devoted.

4.3 Profit Model

Considering fund sources， the combination of governmental and social assistance is effective. The Government should utilize policy leverage by establishing “The Association of Vehicles for Reading” as the mainstay to manage activities coordinately， including reading competition and other stimulating games to appeal to sponsorship and donations. Also， the vehicles set in cities can be used as advertising space for commercial posters.

5. Conclusion

The programme of Vehicles for Reading is feasible. Governments can make related policies and establish Association of Vehicles for Reading make reputation. The continuous improvement of the programme will open the door to education.

References：

[1]Johnstone，D.（1986）.In D.Johnstone，Sharing the cost of higher education（pp.331-334）.College Board.

[2]Nations，U.（2017）.Retrieved May 1，from 2018，Sustainable development goals：https：//www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/.

[3]Williamson，K.D.（2014，August）.Retrieved March 21，2018，from Nationalreview：https：//www.nationalreview.com/2014/08/inequality-education-kevin-d-williamson/.