The government of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region plans to raise the educational subsidy and expand its coverage to include more than 500,000 school-aged children, mostly from herding families, in rural areas of Tibet, a regional education official said.

Dorje Tsering, a spokesman with the Bureau of Education of Tibet, told reporters Monday that the regional government has doubled the budget earmarked for the rural educational subsidy scheme this year to 1.01 billion yuan ($152 million).

Children in rural Tibet from kindergartens to senior high schools will receive 2,000 yuan per person to cover annual expenses on food, clothing, school supplies while they stay in boarding schools. Those who live in remote areas will receive extra subsidies, Dorje Tsering said.

China provides free education for school-aged children in Tibet and has been providing subsidies to children of the herding families since 1985. Previous subsidy scheme did not include kindergarten children.

The government also plans to provide scholarships amounting to more than 10 million yuan for students from low-income families who study in kindergartens, primary, and middle schools in Tibet.

(Xinhua News Agency March 1, 2011)