Lottery revenue to help poor students

THE state council will allocate 300 million yuan (US$40.75 million) from lottery revenue to help impoverished senior students, the Education Department said today.

The money will benefit 300,000 students in 22 provinces and cities in west and central China before the end of the month. Each student will receive 1000 yuan each semester, Zhang Baoqing, chairman of the Education Development Fund, told a press conference.

The assistance project will not be temporary, Zhang said, but the government has no plan to introduce an education lottery.

The Chinese government allocated 160 million yuan to help students in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region. More than 79,100 high-school students and 137,000 professional-school students received the money.