In this capital of south China's Guangdong Province, only two-thirds of primary and middle schools have access to the Internet, local education officials said Monday.

Schools in the city's rural areas are still short of IT educational resources, such as start-up funds and technical staff.

However, to encourage better use of IT (information technology) educational resources in schools, an ambitious Guangzhou Education and Research Network will be completed in the next three years, Hua Tongxu, director of the Guangzhou Bureau of Education, indicated Monday at a news conference.

The first phase of trial network, with an investment of nearly 10 million yuan (US$1.2 million), was completed last month, Hua said.

At present, 78 organizations have been given direct access to the network operation center, and more than 400 schools are connected to the net through a secondary node, representing nearly half of the schools with Internet access in the city.

In addition, the bureau decided to invest 5 million yuan more (US$600,000) to ensure the completion of the network within the next three years, Hua said.

The aim is to establish a central IT educational network, covering a citywide educational system, Hua said.

Guangzhou started its IT educational network campaign in 2001, aiming to enhance its educational development.

(China Daily July 20, 2004)