China spends US$375m on rural boarding schools (Xinhua) Updated: 2006-06-12 17:08
China's central government has expenditure of 3 billion yuan (375 million
U.S. dollars) for the building or renovation of 2,810 rural boarding schools,
the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has announced on its
website.
The expenditure is part of a three-year program beginning in 2004 to build or
renovate 7,662 rural boarding schools in a bid to improve educational facilities
in the countryside.
Total funding for the program amounts to 9 billion yuan (1.13 billion
dollars).
Spreading across 953 counties in central and western China, the boarding
schools will be able accommodate 2 million students when they are completed.
By the end of April, more than half of the 4,852 schools for which fund had
been allocated in 2004 and 2005 had been completed, the NDRC said.
The 3 billion yuan slated for 2006 comes in two parts. Half comes from the
central budget, while the other half is raised through treasury bonds.
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