South China's Guangdong Province is soon to provide totally free nine-year compulsory education for students throughout the province.

Students in some five counties in the province will be the first to benefit from the all fee exempt program starting in the new semester this September, sources with the Guangdong Provincial Education Bureau said yesterday.

After the five initial counties, the program will stretch to all rural areas within the province and then to the urban areas, the sources said.

"The inspiring move will enable children from underdeveloped rural areas to attend school," said Tang Weiying, vice-chairperson of the Standing Committee of the Guangdong Provincial People's Congress.

Even though students were no longer charged tuition fees in the nine-year compulsory education system, which has been in place for more than 15 years, fees for textbooks and other items have often deterred children from poor families attending school.

A recent survey found that about 3 per cent of children aged between seven and 15 in rural areas are forced to drop out of school due to poverty.

Preliminary estimates by the Guangdong Provincial Finance Bureau said that more than 6 billion yuan (US$739.8 million) needs to be allocated for the province to finally implement free-of-charge education.

The money injected will mainly be used for textbooks and exercise book.

By implementing the free-of-charge compulsory education program, Guangdong Province is to further strengthen educational development in rural areas.

The province will allocate a total of 187 million yuan (US$23 million) this year for the development of rural education, of which 100 million (US$12.3 million) will be used to improve educational facilities.

(China Daily August 1, 2005)