Every Tuesday and Friday evening sees Miss Li， my neighbor and a secretary in a company rush home after a hard day's work， gulp down her meals and then hurry out to catch the bus for her English class. Miss Li's case is not unique， and now more and more city adults spend their leisure time trying to improve themselves at school or college.

There are a number of reasons for people to go back for their education. Some people， like Miss Li， are doing it to acquire another degree or diploma to impress the society. To them more knowledge， or rather， more credentials means more opportunities for better jobs and quicker promotion.

Other people， especially those who are laid off or out of employment go to vocational school to prepare to return to the job market. They are eager for new skills so that they can be qualified for the jobs in retail trade， administration， education and other service categories to which they are strange because most of them were blue-collar workers in the factory.

There are also people who come to take such courses as Chinese traditional medicine， painting， calligraphy and photography. As their working weeks decline people begin to have time to fulfill their old dream of their heart's desire.

Out of necessity or out of interest， people go back to school for the common goal——to improve themselves， and this boom in adult education， in turn， helps to raise the intellectual standard of the whole country.