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China to Promote Distance Education in Western Regions
China is to spend 360 million yuan (43 million US dollars) on developing distance education in its western part, according to an official from the Ministry of Education.
Wang Zhuzhu, deputy director of the ministry's tele-education office, said the investment constitutes a major move by the state to develop education in the economically backward western regions.
The central government this year has allocated 80 million yuan (9 million US dollars) from the state revenue to start the program, and the rest of the investment will be made next year, she said.
The program will focus on expanding the existent Chinese Education and Research Network (CERNET), and help provide access to the CERNET for colleges and schools in the west, especially those for students of ethnic minorities.
Distance education based on telecommunications and computers is an ideal solution for China's west, which accounts for more than half of the country's land area but only 23 percent of the population, said Zhang Xiaopeng, an associate professor at Fudan University in Shanghai, who specializes in research in distance education.
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