More than 20,000 needy children dropouts in China's Tibet Autonomous Region have returned to school with the help of Project Hope in the past ten years.

The project, carried out by Tibetan Youth Development Foundation, has received 76 million yuan (about US$9.3 million) from home and abroad since the fund was established in 1992.

So far, 25 provinces and municipalities across China have donated money to set up schools in 65 counties. Industrial giants such as Haier Group and Shanghai Volkswagen also gave financial aid to support the project.

Since 1999, a Japanese Tibetan woman named Baima Yangjin has invested 2.7 million yuan (US325,000) in setting up six primary schools in the outlying areas of the region. Recently, she set up training courses for teachers in the capital city of Lhasa.

Project Hope is a national charity program launched by the Communist Youth League of China and China Youth Development Foundation, mainly to help poor school-age children in rural areas receive primary education.

With the nationwide and overseas support, more than 180 Project Hope schools have been set up and renovated in Tibet, which helped over 20,000 children from needy farming and herding families, said Gyaco, secretary general of the foundation, on Tuesday.

The project has become the most influential social charity program in the region, Gyaco said.

(Xinhua News Agency August 27, 2003)