More than 20,000 college students are part of a paid internship program offered by Chongqing municipal government this summer, China Youth Daily reported Wednesday.

The program, launched by the government last year, offers college students more than 22,000 posts for internships in government, state-owned enterprises and private companies.

The government requires that every college student should do at least four months of real-life experience. Many of the students' internships involve labor work such as working in a factory and living and working with farmers. Some college students' internships involved cleaning public restrooms or working in funeral homes.

A mother of a student at Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications who did his summer internship in a factory packaging and carrying products, said her son worked at least 10 hours a day, and that she was glad to see him become more mature and disciplined.

Zhang Guolin, Party secretary of Southwest University of Political Science and Law, agreed. "Hard work down in the grassroots exposes students to the reality of society and the achievement of reform, and enables them to see the weakness in themselves... It helps them put what they learn from textbooks into practice."