Central China's Hunan Province plans to invest 200 million yuan (US$24 million) to build 506 boarding junior middle schools for ethnic minorities in five years.

Thousands of minority youngsters who live in the province's 17 autonomous counties and 87 scattered towns will benefit from the plan.

For many years, the provincial government has attached great importance to the education of the minorities and adopted a policy favoring them for school admission and financial assistance.

The local government has helped the minority regions to set up 315 primary schools and raise 40 million yuan (US$4.8 million) for the Hope Project Fund to help poor students finance their school work. 

Over the past five years, the province has set up 96 boarding junior middle schools in such areas so as to guarantee the teaching level in the nine-year compulsory education stage.

The investment in school construction will be from the provincial, regional and county levels in the ratio of 2:1:1, with the province to offer 200,000 yuan (US$24,000) for each school.

The provincial government will also arrange 35 million yuan (US$4.2 million) to aid the poor minority students and take new measures in the teacher training and housing.
 
(Xinhua News Agency November 26, 2003)