About 1 million Olympic tickets will be allocated to primary and secondary school students at low prices across the nation.

All schools in Beijing will be covered, an official from the municipal educational department said yesterday.

"A total of 400,000 Olympic tickets have been set aside for students in Beijing. They will be given a first-hand experience of the Games," Zhang Tiedao, vice-president of the Beijing academy of educational sciences, said.

To fulfil a commitment in the host city contract, the Beijing Games organizers and the Ministry of Education launched the 2008 Beijing Education Program in 2005 to promote education of Olympic knowledge among 400 million youths nationwide, of whom 230 million, are primary and secondary students.

As part of the program, about 14 percent of the Olympic tickets, which are priced either 5 yuan (73 cents) or 10 yuan, will be for primary and secondary students.

University students in the Olympic host and co-host cities will also get some tickets under the program.

"Tickets will be distributed to students through provincial departments of education to ensure students from all over China will have the opportunity to join the Beijing Games," Gao Hong, vice-director of the Basic Education Department of the Ministry of Education, said.

"The accommodation of students from outside Beijing will be arranged by some Beijing schools," Gao said.

Students from the earthquake-hit Sichuan province will also be invited to attend the Games. They will also take part in an Olympic summer camp.

Under the education program, 556 "model schools for Beijing 2008 Olympic education" have been named across the country. The schools have added Olympic education to their curriculums - two compulsory class hours per month. They have also organized a variety of activities featuring Olympic related knowledge.

"Heart-to-Heart Partnership Exchange Program" is also being introduced among schools in Beijing. More than 210 schools will partner 205 national and regional Olympic committees and 160 Paralympic committees to hold activities with the athletes.

"The Olympic education program will leave an important legacy for the Olympic movement and China," Gao said. "It will also benefit the development of China's education."

(China Daily July 22, 2008)