CRI听力：China Continues 'Green Passage' for Poor College-students-to-be

Colleges and universities across China have opened 'Green Passages' for new students with poor economic background to complete their registration, as the new semester begins this September.

The measure, which was inaugurated in 1998, was designed to facilitate students from poor families to have complete higher education although most of them could not afford the tuition fees at registration.

Qiu Wei has more.

Reporter:
The 'Green Passage' policy regulates that colleges should accept students' registration first, despite their economic situation.

Colleges also promise to help students through a variety of programmes, such as scholarships and loans, to guarantee that they could complete higher education.

Zhou Xiaoguo is a new student at Peking University. From a poor family in East China's Jiangsu Province, he is quite happy about what the Green Passage policy has brought to students like him.

''When I received the offer letter from Peking University, I noticed that the university will help us through this 'Green Passage' in order to reduce our financial pressures. The policy has really given us a smooth registration. ''

In addition to facilitating registration, colleges also dispatches living necessities and offer part-time jobs opportunities to the needies under the policy.

Some universities also extent their Green Passage service further before registration, in terms of paying for students' transport costs to universities.

But helping poor students is not only about money, as Zhang Yan with the Peking University says they have more expectation on these students.

''We are not only helping them with financial measures, but also expecting them to be strong when facing difficulties and to be grateful when receiving kindness. This is a healthy way of growing.''

In a related development, China says it will inject 15.4 billion yuan, or about 2 billion U.S dollars annually starting this year, to provide more aid to poor students. It is estimated that 900-thousand students across the country will be benefited from the fund.

Qiu Wei, CRI news.