Hechi invests $69.65m for compulsory education students in 2019

Hechi in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region invested a total of 490 million yuan ($69.65 million) in 2019 to provide living allowances for boarding students and to improve the nutrition of students receiving compulsory education.

The data was released at the city's 2020 compulsory education scheduled meeting, which took place on March 18.

The city's living allowances had benefited 287,000 compulsory education boarding students in 2019, while its nutrition improvement program was carried out in 1,515 middle and primary schools last year, benefiting 282,000 students.

The retention rate of the city's compulsory education in 2019 reached 95.2 percent.

In addition, Hechi employed 2,553 new teachers in 2019, decreasing the vacancy rate of teachers in compulsory education to 8.12 percent.

A total of 12,493 compulsory education teachers in the city's rural areas enjoyed living subsidies in 2019, with the total amount reaching 8.22 million yuan.

The city trained 27,000 teachers in 2019, of which 15,800 ones were from the city's seven poverty-stricken counties.

By the end of February 2020, Hechi had finished the construction and renovation of 460 compulsory education schools in its rural areas, as well as 713 related individual projects, with a project completion rate of 69.29 percent and an investment completion rate of 58 percent.

"We should further enhance our sense of mission and responsibility, as well as strengthen our confidence and resolve in winning the battle of guaranteeing compulsory education," said Lu Haisheng, deputy mayor of Hechi, at the meeting.

All tasks, including construction of projects, controlling dropout rates, and promoting the use of Mandarin, should be finished, added Lu.