A special state grant worth 800 million yuan (US$98.77 million)
every year will be issued to poverty-stricken college students from
next month.
Officials from the Ministry of Education added that children in
rural China will enjoy free nine-year compulsory schooling before
2010.
The grant, allocated by the central government, is to help cover
basic living expenses for 533,000 poor students enrolled in public
colleges. Each student will receive a monthly subsidy of 150 yuan
(US$18.52), Zhang Baoqing, vice-minister of education, said at a
press conference held by the Ministry of Education on August
29.
The regulation stipulates that only students who are extremely
poor may apply for the grant. Certificates of their family
background issued by the local authorities must accompany their
application.
The standards for determining exactly who qualifies vary from
province to province.
Ministry figures indicate that about 2.63 million college
students in China live in poverty. This accounts for 19 percent of
the total 13.5 million student population. Among them, 1.22 million
are classified as "extremely poor".
Zhang stressed the central government's commitment to helping
college students from impoverished families. "We set up a state
scholarship in 2002 that annually gives out 200 million yuan
(US$24.69 million) to poor students with outstanding academic
achievements," Zhang said, adding that 50,000 students receive the
scholarship every year.
"Now eligibility for financial aid will be extended to ordinary
but diligent students from poor families."
For those who fail to get the state scholarship and grant,
applying for state loans might be another option. Since it was
launched in 2000, the student loans system has helped 1.53 million
college students by issuing 12.25 billion yuan (US$1.51 billion) in
interest-free loans. Any student from an impoverished family is
qualified to apply.
However, Zhang said the loan amounts issued are not
adequate.
"According to our estimates, to ensure that poor students finish
their four-year college studies, at least 10 billion yuan (US$1.23
billion) should be granted every year," he said. "But in 2004-05,
only half that amount was issued."
According to the ministry, the following eight provinces,
municipalities and autonomous regions have not yet granted any
state loans to poor students: Hainan, Tianjin, Heilongjiang,
Qinghai, Gansu, Xinjiang, Ningxia and Inner Mongolia.
"Because part of the interest is paid from local public
revenues, some provinces and banks are looking for excuses not to
grant interest-free loans to students, and colleges don't want to
be involved," Zhang said.
The education authority also reiterated that the "Green Passage"
program, in which poor students may apply to defer tuition
payments, should be continued this year.
Last year, the program helped 290,000 new students register for
college entrance in spite of their financial circumstances,
accounting for 11 of the total number of poor students in the
country.
Zhang also revealed yesterday that in the revised draft of the
law on compulsory education currently being evaluated, children in
rural areas will benefit from free compulsory education in the next
five years. Currently, legislators are soliciting opinions from the
public for the revised draft.
The core issue under discussion is how to ensure that there are
enough funds to sustain a system of free compulsory education.
In 2003, the country invested 136.5 billion yuan (US$16.9
billion) in compulsory education, 47.6 billion yuan (US$5.87
billion) short of what was required.
Meanwhile, the country's fiscal spending on education accounted
for 3.28 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) in 2003, as
compared to the world average of 4 percent.
The compulsory education law currently in force has vague
stipulations that governments at all levels should guarantee the
education budget. It stops short of clarifying what happens if it
is not guaranteed. One of the major tasks of the revised law should
be to clear up the grey areas.
(China Daily August 30, 2005)