A total of 111 million yuan ($17.86 million) was granted by the Shanxi Department of Finance to improve the life of rural teachers in concentrated contiguous areas of exceptional poverty. It is estimated that 30,800 rural teachers will benefit from this fund, according to the provincial finance department on Dec 19.

Most of the teachers in poor areas are shouldered with arduous tasks. Therefore, it's relatively hard to attract excellent professionals to teach in such areas for a long-time. In order to encourage the rural teachers to keep teaching in such areas and improve and strengthen rural education comprehensively, a notice was made by the province's departments of education and finance to grant living funds for rural teachers in the concentrated and contiguous areas. From the first month of this year, all teachers in such areas will receive a living grant of 300 yuan per month.

Edited by Michael Thai