The "Spring Bud" Program, a national appeal to get girl school dropouts in poor areas back to school, has collected donations worth 330 million yuan (US$39.76 million) and helped over 1.15 million students continue their studies since it was launched in 1989.

On the eve of June 1, International Children's Day, the All-China Women's Federation and China Children and Teenagers' Fund (CCTF) held a ceremony in Beijing on Thursday to honor the teachers who had played an outstanding role in the program and those top students helped by the program.

At the ceremony, 12 cities, businesses and individuals gave donations to a charity program called "China Children's Charity Day" initiated by the CCTF. According to the CCTF, the donations, which have reached more than 50 million yuan (US$6 million) since February this year, will be used to help dropouts get back to school in poor areas of western China.

Statistics released by the CCTF show that by the year 2001, 99.1 percent of Chinese school age children had attended school, 2.8 percent higher than the figure for 1990.

(People's Daily May 31, 2002)