China has decided to allocate one billion yuan (US$121 million) in funding for planned increases in enrollment of senior high school students mainly in the central and western parts of the country.

Sources with the State Development and Reform Commission said the revenue raised from treasury bonds would be used to finance construction of classrooms and laboratories with quality teaching resources for about 500 senior high schools across the country.

The money would enable each senior high school in counties with a big population and cities to build 5,500 square meters in new rooms.

Each high school would be able to accommodate another 18 classes and enroll an extra 900 students after the expansion projects are completed by the end of this year.

Nationally, about 450,000 more junior high school students will be enrolled by senior high schools next year due to the investment.

A total of 16 million junior high school students graduate each year in China, and about half of them cannot enter senior school, but instead look for work due to a lack of classrooms.

Analysts say the move will help produce more better trained young people, especially for the central and western parts of the country, but the competition between senior high school students in China for college education will grow intense as a result.

Currently, only small proportion of senior high school graduates have access to college education due to a lack of teaching resources.

China has increased enrollment of college students by a big margin in recent years to tap its huge human resources potential, and meet the growing demand for higher education.

(Xinhua News Agency May 20, 2003)