Starbucks donates $1.5 million to boost rural education in China

BEIJING, (Xinhuanet) -- U.S. coffee giant Starbucks has pledged to work with Chinese organizations to provide 40 million yuan (5 million U.S. dollars) to give poor Chinese students from rural areas better access to education.

Starbucks and the Soong Ching-ling Foundation (SCLF), a social welfare organization set up in 1982 named after the late Chinese leader Soong Ching-ling, on Tuesday signed an agreement to launch the China Education Project in Beijing.

Starbucks donated 12 million yuan (1.5 million U.S. dollars) to kick-start the project at the signing ceremony.

According to the agreement, around 3,000 female teachers from 1,000 primary and middle schools in five western provinces will be given training during the summer and winter holidays to improve their teaching skills and provide them with updated learning techniques.

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