The Chinese government has announced that starting next school year (2007-2008), tuition and fees will be waived from all the elementary schools and junior high schools in rural areas nationwide. However, it will take some time for this policy to be phased in completely. As many of the families in the rural areas are far from being affluent, they still need help.

During the current school year (2006-2007), tuition and fees are being waived in the Western provinces and reduced in some other provinces. The ESS financial assistance is therefore being offered on a province-by-province basis. We have terminated the assistance to some regions, or reduced the amount to some other regions, depending on the stage of the said policy that has been carried out by each province.

As senior high school education is not and will not be a constitutional entitlement, the hefty cost is currently being shouldered by the individual without subsidy from the government. We have therefore decided to allocate more assistance to the senior high school students.

Furthermore, students in the special needs education programs, regardless whether they were born with their disabilities, or became handicapped later in life due to lack of timely medical attention caused by poverty, are most unfortunate. It would be much too sad if they are deprived again of the opportunity to be educated. We have, therefore, added to our service the financial assistance to the special needs education students. At this point, we are aiming at helping the blind and the mute students. The special needs education program runs from the first to the ninth grade for a total of nine years.

For the 2006-2007 school year, ESS has issued financial assistance to 36 elementary students, 711 junior high students, 821 senior high students, 47 college students, 54 special need students, 58 students for the vocational schools for teachers, for a total of 1,727 students. They are going to schools in 19 provinces, including Anhui, Gansu, Guangdong, Guanxi, Hainan, Henan, Heilongjiang, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Liaoning, Neimenggu, Ningxia, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Xizang, and Xinjiang, Yunnan.

Currently, the amount of the financial assistance for each school year per student is $28 for the elementary level; $50 for the junior high level; $200 for the senior high level; $350 for the college level; and $75 for the special needs program.