Education is the life's work of Zhang Baoqing, but money now is his top concern. The former vice minister of education supervises the China Education Development Foundation (CEDF), the country's first publicly funded organization of its kind.

By the end of November, the foundation had raised 264 million yuan, including a donation of 3 million yuan from former Chinese Premier Li Peng. More than 13,000 students from impoverished families have been included in its aid program, with total payments reaching 40 million yuan.

But Zhang pays more attention to the 200,000 applications for help his foundation has received. Throughout the country, there are 40 million students in schools at all levels in danger of dropping out due to financial difficulties, according to official statistics.

At the inauguration of the CEDF in March, Zhang said the organization was established to mobilize all sectors of society to contribute to the establishment of an efficient relief system for students in difficulties.

From then on, Zhang, 62, has launched a nationwide fundraising campaign. "No matter how big or small a donation is, we welcome it," he said.

Zhang attributes his dedication to helping poor students to a wholehearted gratitude for the government sponsorship that helped him through his school years. He said his next objective is to increase the available capital of CEDF to 1 billion yuan and make its working procedures more transparent.

Despite the increasing strength of CEDF, Zhang stresses that nongovernmental relief organizations can only play a supplementary role in aiding poor students and calls for governments at all levels to increase the coverage of the state-run student loan system.

Prior to his retirement from the government in October 2005, the outspoken opponent of the commercialization of education had repeatedly advocated that education is a kind of public service and the government is obliged to invest in it.