The number

51,000 students

Some 8,330 Xinjiang students have been enrolled by inland high schools this year, bringing the total number of Xinjiang students sent away to study to 51,000, local authorities said on Friday. Educational authorities in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region started sending high school students, especially ethnic Uygurs, to schools in inland areas in 2000, aiming to give Uygurs living in the country's remote western regions easier access to quality education and better opportunities.