Education Minister Zhou Ji said that compulsory education in
western rural areas will be improved this year through the
establishment of boarding schools.
He was speaking at a press conference in Beijing on
Thursday.
Compulsory education has been in place since 1986, and is
considered a cornerstone of educational development,
industrialization and modernization.
However, students in nearly 8 percent of areas in western China
still fall through the gaps in the system.
“Central government will invest 10 billion?yuan (about
US$1.3 billion)?to build 7,730 boarding schools for 2.03
million students in 955 counties in the next four years,” Zhou
said.
“In the future, students in these areas will no longer have to
walk a long way everyday to school,” he explained, “They will be
able to study in spacious and well-lit classrooms and stay in safe
and comfortable dormitories.”
Zhou said high priority will also be attached to meeting the
special learning and living needs of students from poorer
families.
Last autumn, the government earmarked funds to provide free
textbooks for 24 million students from poor families in the central
and western regions.
Zhou promised that they would continue to be supported to at
least 2007.
Modern distance education and renovation of old schoolhouses are
also being considered to improve education in western areas.
(China.org.cn by Unisumoon January 28, 2005)