Free education for 14 million poor students
By Sun Shangwu (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-03-06 01:48

Students from poor farming families will enjoy free education, Premier Wen Jiabao said yesterday in a major policy announcement.

The move, which is expected to benefit 14 million students, is part of the scheme initiated by the central authorities to build a "harmonious society," he said.

The premier, delivering the annual work report of the State Council to more than 2,900 deputies of the lawmaking 10th National People's Congress (NPC), also said other measures include increased financial aid and retraining for laid-off urban workers and the overall exemption of agricultural tax from next year.

Free education for rural students with financial difficulties will help 14 million in 592 counties designated as priorities of the State's poverty-relief work during the nine-year compulsory education stage, Xinhua reported.

Starting from 2007, Wen said, all rural students will enjoy such benefits so that all are able to complete compulsory education.

Wen also promised that the agricultural tax would be scrapped next year, an unprecedented move in Chinese history.

Revenue decreases in local budgets brought about by tax exemptions on agriculture will be offset principally by payments from the central government.

Wen said in Beijing that the central government will allocate 10.9 billion yuan (US$1.32 billion) this year for re-employment efforts, 2.6 billion yuan (US$315 million) more than last year.

Mo Rong, deputy director of the Institute for Labour Studies under the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, said: "The increase in funding is very significant for helping urban laid-off find new jobs."

The money will mainly be used to train laid-off workers so that they can learn new skills, said Mo.

Local governments are also required to increase their budget correspondingly, Mo said.

"Social security is the core issue for building an 'harmonious society' as advocated by central authorities," said Mo.

The premier said 9 million new jobs will be created for urban residents this year to keep the registered urban unemployment rate below 4.6 per cent.

Peaceful reunification

Wen also stressed Beijing's desire for peaceful reunification with Taiwan.

"The draft anti-secession law, which will be submitted for your examination and approval, provides a full expression of our unvarying position, which is that we are working most sincerely and energetically to bring about peaceful reunification," said Wen.

Besides, more effective measures to improve work-safety conditions will also be taken by the government.

"At present, we should give top priority to coal-mine safety," said Wen, adding that the State Council has decided to spend 3 billion yuan (US$360 million) this year to help State-owned coal mines upgrade safety.

On national defence and the army, Wen said that the government will reduce the size of the military by 200,000 troops this year to 2.3 million.

(China Daily 03/06/2005 page2)

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