XI'AN: Many pupils in rural areas in Northwest China's Shaanxi Province are studying in sub-zero temperatures because of a lack of funds to heat schools.

Several parts of the province have seen a sharp drop in temperatures of up to 10 degrees over the past week. But many classrooms have remained without heating, according to local education authority sources.

In northern Shaanxi the average temperature at this time is -2 C.

"However, I have no money to buy coal to provide heating for the children," said Zhang Yonghui, deputy director of Yongshou County Education Bureau in northern Shaanxi.

He told China Daily yesterday that his bureau is in debt of 2 million yuan (US$246,600) for 1,118 computers and other facilities for the county's schools, and that there are some classrooms in a dangerous state of disrepair.

"The free-of-charge policy brought children who had dropped out of education back to school, which greatly helped the poor farmers' children continue their schooling. But, in a county with financial problems, we have to face the issue of a funding shortage," the deputy director said.

Yang Wenbin, principal of Zhaojiayuan Elementary School, said they used to get some funds for heating from the students' families, but this winter the school did not request money from poverty-stricken farmers.

But the school also suffers from a general lack of funding and did not get money for heating from local government, the principal said.

Wu Yanjun, another principal of a rural school in Yijun County, said he received 10 yuan (US$1.23) from each pupil for heating costs, but the money collected from the children could only buy five tons of coal, which is far from enough for the whole winter.

Nan Lijun, an official with Shaanxi Provincial Education Bureau, said that the situation of rural classrooms going without heating is common in Shaanxi. Local government has worked to improve rural educational conditions, but its tight finances can only provide limited improvement.

Seventy-eight per cent of funds for rural compulsory education comes from township finances, which used to get money mainly from agricultural tax. But since the exemption of agricultural tax, not enough money is available for education, the official said.

"The most realistic means to solve the rural education problem is the financial support from central government, and preferential policies should also be made to attract people and funds to enter rural education," said Wang Jin'an, educational expert and professor of the Northwest Agriculture University.

(China Daily 12/08/2005 page3)