A special State grant of ... yuan, or about 100 million US dollars for poor students attending secondary vocational schools across China, will be available every year starting next month.
The grant, allocated by the central government, is to help cover tuition for 800,000 poor students at public and private schools.
China’s vice-minister of education, Wu Qidi, announced on Wednesday that the grant is the first national aid project for secondary vocational school students.
 "A tuition reduction system should be established in secondary vocational schools. The school should allocate at least 5% of its income to help reduce tuition costs for poor students."
Apart from this financial aid, she says the local government and enterprises will set up an additional scholarship fund for students with good academic performance.
The government has also encouraged financial institutes to provide low-interest loans to vocational students.
Ministry figures indicate that about 30 percent of the 16 million secondary vocational school students in China are living in poverty.
Before now, the only aid project for poor students was for those attending college.
Education Official Wu Qidi says this new government initiative is intended to reach all students from impoverished families.
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Director: Liu Chi