Economy

China budgets fund for teachers in rural regions

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-05-30 13:23

BEIJING -- The central government has allocated more than 2.52 billion yuan ($388.1 million) to a fund that ensures payments to specially-recruited teachers in primary and junior high schools in rural areas.

China has encouraged and recruited college graduates in recent years to teach in rural regions in an effort to offer better nine-year compulsory education to students in poor regions, especially in western China.

Related readings:  Lessons in educating migrants  China hits hard on charging school enrollment fees  Rural-urban learning exchange  Teachers told to say no to gifts

The fund will ensure that these teachers who work in the nation's less developed regions get 20,540 yuan of subsidies as part of the salary payment per person during the 2011-2012 school year, according to a statement posted Friday on the Ministry of Finance website.

The statement said it is the government's first fund for the 2011-2012 school year. More funding will be allocated after more teachers are recruited from around the nation's colleges to teach in rural regions this year.

The central government has called on local governments to ensure the payment and rightful interests of specially-recruited teachers in rural regions, where educational resources are scarce compared to cities.