Long Zhen, who comes from a Tibetan herdsman’s family in Ganzi, is studying in a school training kindergarten teachers in Longchang county in Sichuan.

Earlier this year, she wrote to Liu, narrating how she had changed from a mischievous and unruly girl into a sensible student in pursuit of academic progress thanks to the program.

An increasing number of units and firms are enrolling students of the “9+3” program as interns.

“We welcome them because they are hardworking and polite,” says Liu Huazhong, director of an automotive repair plant in Yibin, Sichuan.

Of some 8,500 students included in the program in 2009, 7,214 have found jobs as interns, according to the provincial government information office.

Twenty-one of them have participated in national vocational skill competitions. Nineteen have won awards, the office says.

In addition to learning knowledge and winning awards, students have a strong sense of social responsibility using what they have learned to help people in need.

Wu Yong with the Mianyang School of Finance and Economics saved an old man from a river. Ta Shi with the Chengdu Technical School repaired cars for stranded passengers on his way home. Luo Zeren, a student with the Sichuan Art College, decorated houses for his home villagers.