China offers 55.3 billion yuan in student aid subsidies
CGTN

China recently announced 55.3 billion yuan (about 8 billion U.S. dollars) in student aid subsidies, an increase of 4.84 billion yuan or 9.6 percent year on year, according to the country's Ministry of Finance.

The subsidies are used to support local governments to implement policies including awards, scholarships and exemption of school fees for high school education, secondary vocational education and higher education, said the ministry.

The ministry said it will continue to improve and implement the student financial aid policy, and further support poor areas. Starting from the fall semester this year, some majors will be covered in the free tuition policy of secondary vocational education.

Meanwhile, all localities are required to be coordinated to increase support for deeply impoverished areas, and improve the accuracy of financial assistance.

In February, China's Ministry of Education and Ministry of Finance asked local governments to provide financial aid to students from poor families, especially for those affected by the coronavirus outbreak.

The country revised its state-subsidized student loan policy last month to further reduce the burden of college students.

(Teachers from Chengguan Town Primary School donate school supplies and daily necessities to poor students in Chengguan Town, Baokang County, Xiangyang, central China's Hubei Province, March 25, 2020. /VCG)