The Ministry of Education announced in Beijing Tuesday that a government project to revamp shabby apartments for university teachers has been completed.

More than 66,000 families of young teachers working with over 300 universities and colleges affiliated to central government departments, have moved into the new residences.

The program, part of the efforts to implement the strategy of developing the nation through science, technology and education, was initiated in 1998 after a year of experiments.

The central government has allocated special funds for the project to rebuild the shabby houses of university teachers with a total floor space of 3.59 million sq.m..

Meanwhile, local governments in 16 provinces and municipalities have also allocated special funds to help renovate teachers' residence for local universities and colleges.

For decades, Chinese teachers had been working hard, but living on low payment and in shabby houses. In recent years, the central government has been making efforts to improve living conditions, including pay-hikes and house-rebuilding, for university teachers in a bid to curb a worsening brain drain.