Funds
Toimplementthisproject,thecentralgovernmenthasinvested3.9billionyuanandthelocalgovernmenthasinvested8.7billionyuan,totaling12.6billionyuan.
Region
Theimplementationscopeofthefirstphaseofthe"project"isconcentratedin22provinces,autonomousregions,municipalitiesand852poorcountiesintheXinjiangProductionandConstructionCorps,includingthe"August7"povertyalleviationplanThereare568nationalpovertycountiesidentified.
Phasedresults
Withthegreatattentionofgovernmentsatalllevelsandthefullsupportofallsectorsofsociety,especiallythepeopleinpoverty-strickenareas,thefirstphaseofthe"project"wassuccessfullycompletedbytheendof2000,Completedvarioustasksandachievedplanninggoals.Themainresultsofthe"project"areasfollows:First,theprocessofthe"twobasics"inthecentralandwesternregionshasbeenaccelerated.Bytheendofthefirstphaseofthe"project",428ofthe852projectcountieshadpassedthenational"twobases"acceptance.Second,theconditionsforrunningcompulsoryeducationinpoverty-strickenareashavebeengreatlyimproved.Throughtheimplementationofthe"project",atotalof3,842projectprimaryandsecondaryschoolswerenewlybuilt,and28,478projectprimaryandsecondaryschoolswererenovatedandexpanded.Theareaofprimaryandsecondaryschoolsintheprojectcountieshasincreasedfrom130millionsquaremetersto188millionsquaremeters,anincreaseof58millionsquaremeters;theratioofdilapidatedbuildingshasdroppedfromabout10%tolessthan3%.Purchased6.53millionsetsofdesksandstools,purchasedmorethan100millionbooks,andequippednearly400,000setsofteachingequipment.Thethirdisthattheteachinglevelofteachershasbeengreatlyimproved.Inthefiveyears,atotalof466,000primaryandmiddleschoolteachersweretrainedand72,200principalsweretrained.Thequalificationrateofprimaryschoolteachersintheprojectcountiesreached94%,thequalificationrateofjuniorhighschoolteachersreached87.7%,andthequalificationsofprimaryandjuniorhighschoolprincipalsallmetthestandard.Fourth,ithasstronglypromotedtheadjustmentofthelayoutofprimaryandsecondaryschools.Throughtheimplementationofthe"project",thenumberofschoolsintheprojectcountieswasreducedby16,700andthenumberofstudentsincreasedby3.2million.Theaverageschoolsizereached168,andthestudent-teacherratioreached22.7:1;thenumberofjuniorhighschoolstudentsincreasedby1.53million,andtheaverageschoolsizereached660people,withastudent-teacherratioof18.2:1.Theexpansionoftheaverageschoolscaleandtheimprovementofthestudent-teacherratiohaveenabledmoreeffectiveuseofeducationalresources.
Developmentproblems
Aftertheendofthefirstphaseofthe"project"attheendof2000,therewerestill522counties(bannersandregiments)acrossthecountrythathadnotyetbeen"generalized",coveringanestimatedpopulationof124million.Thetaskofachievingthe"NineUniversal"goalinthesepoverty-strickenareasisevenmorearduous.
Improvementmeasures
ThePartyCentralCommitteeandtheStateCouncilhavedecidedtocontinuetoimplementthesecondphaseofthe"Project"duringthe"TenthFive-YearPlan"period.Thecentralgovernmentinvested5billionyuanandthelocalfiscalsupportwas2.36billionyuan,foratotalof7.36billionyuan.Theallocationofthecentralgovernment'sspecialfundsisinclinedtothewesternregion,andthefundsallocatedforthewesternregionaccountformorethan90%ofthecentralgovernment'sspecialfunds.Thesecondphaseofthe"project"continuedtofocusonschoolbuildingrenovationandconstruction,andatthesametimeincreasedtheintensityofteachertraining,andaddedfreetextbooks,provisionofinformationtechnologyeducationequipmentandotherprojects.Accordingtotheplan,atotalof10,663primaryandsecondaryschoolshavebeennewlybuilt,renovatedandexpandedin522projectcounties(4062newlybuilt,6601rebuiltandexpanded),ofwhich6,928new,rebuiltorexpandedprimaryschools(2431newlybuilt,4497rebuiltandexpanded)arenewlybuilt,rebuiltandexpanded.3735(newlybuilt1,631,renovatedandexpanded2,104);trainedabout467,000primaryandsecondaryschoolprincipalsandteachers,purchased16,000setsofequipment,purchased2.05millionsetsofdesksandstools,andadded23millionbooksandmaterials;to110Tenthousandprimaryandjuniorhighschoolstudentsprovidedfreetextbooks;nearly20,000ruralprimaryandsecondaryschools(14,770primaryschoolsand4,940juniorhighschools)wereequippedwithinformationtechnologyeducationanddistanceeducationreceivingequipment.