Primary and middle school students in Shunyi, an eastern
district in Beijing, will get free education and uniforms starting
September next year, according to local education authorities.
Shunyi will offer free textbooks to about 60,000 students and
school uniforms to the about 41,000 who have registered permanent
residences in the district.
The district is the first in Beijing to set forth detailed
provisions. China's capital plans to offer free nine-year
compulsive education in the coming five years.
"Besides the exemption of tuition, miscellaneous fees as well as
free textbooks, we are also considering offering every student that
has a local registered permanent residence three sets of school
uniforms," said Jia Linxin, an official with Shunyi education
committee.
Students will get uniforms, which include summer and autumn
wear, in the first and fourth grades of primary school and the
first grade of middle school.
Every student will save 2,000 yuan (US$247) after nine years of
free education, according to official statistics.
China will invest more than 100 billion yuan (US$12.5 billion)
in elementary education in the coming five years, said a senior
official of the Ministry of Education Tuesday.
(Xinhua News Agency December 23, 2005)