Ladder-Like Population Structure And Human Resources Development Strategy In Yunnan's Minority Areas

The rapid development of science and technology has ushered in an age of knowledge-based economy, in which science and technology constitute the most important productive forces. The advancement of science and technology in turn has highlighted the importance of the quality of human resources in the development of social economy. The successful experience of developed countries in developing human resources to bring about sustained economic growth has set us a good example. Realizing that what made China lag behind in the world was its low technological level and failure to lay importance on the development of human resources, Mr. Deng Xiaoping expounded a human resources development theory which features "respecting knowledge" and "respecting people" in the early 1980s when China started its reform. This theory has since served as a guideline for the sound development of China's economy. A basic idea underlying the strategy for China's Great West Development is that of sustainable development, which will not be possible unless the quality of human resources is adequately enhanced. On account of this, top priority should be given to human resources development so as to create an improved "soft" environment, enhance the utility of funds, and achieve faster-than-usual economic growth in the Great West. As Yunnan's minority areas have peculiarities of their own in their socio-economic development, the development of human resources in these areas should also adopt strategies that are different from those applicable to other areas. To be more specific, the ladder-like population structure of Yunnan's minority areas should be taken as a point of departure for development of human resources thereof, and any input into human resources development in these areas should be "effective", with practical targets that are defined in view of the order of priority. The ladder-like population structure requires that the efforts to develop human resources should be gradual, with focuses shifting from one phase to another in a ladder-like manner. By such gradual shifting of focuses human resources development in minority areas can proceed in a faster way, and the improvement of the quality of human resources will in turn help push the economy forward. Presently, China is undergoing a fundamental change from planned to market economy, and its mode of economic growth is also shifting from the extensive to the intensive. Under such a new system, the human resources development mechanism has also changed. Market economy makes it inevitable for human resources to flow in "reverse" directions. This has caused a "siphoning effect" to occur, whereby high quality human resources are concentrated in areas that are more developed, while low quality people gather in less developed areas. The quality of human resources, therefore, has become a bottleneck that hinders the economic development of minority areas. To overcome this problem, more efforts should be made to perfect the newly-established market-oriented economic system, strengthen macro-control of the state, enhance the quality of minority people themselves to produce enough people who are dedicated to the economic construction of the minority areas. Only in this way can the input into human resources development in minority areas be really made effective. Human resources development is a kind of systematic engineering. To make inputs effective, emphasis must be laid on education, on popularization and enhancement of science and technology, and on the establishment of a multi-layer, multi-form...