Hainan Chengmai County Government has recently passed a resolution in which it says that from the fall semester of this year on, the county will offer free tuition to students of vocational schools and senior middle schools.
According to local media reports, there are three senior middle schools and three vocational schools in Chengmai County. From this autumn term on, the students of these schools will be exempt from paying tuition fees, textbook fees and lodging fees, which shall instead be paid by the government. In addition, the county has decided to offer subsidies to students from underprivileged areas who are going to the vocational schools.
The policy has been greatly praised by the local people and many students who had dropped out of school say that they are willing to return to the classroom. Until now, the three middle schools have received 1760 more students compared with that of the last year and the students enrolled at the three vocational schools have also increased by more than 1400.
In addition, Chengmai County plans to recruit a batch of professional teachers each year to ease the shortage of teachers of some basic courses.
