One million Olympic tickets reserved for students

Students from all over China will get the chance to get a first-hand account of the Beijing Olympics in August. To ensure that students do not miss out on the event, authorities have allocated one million Olympic tickets to primary and secondary school students at low prices.

As part of the program, about 14 percent of the Olympic tickets, priced either 5 yuan or 10 yuan (about 50 eurocents and 1 euro, respectively), will be reserved for primary and secondary school students.

With 400,000 tickets set aside, all schools in Beijing are covered. The rest of the tickets will go to students across the country, including the earthquake-hit province of Sichuan. University students in the Olympic host and co-host cities will also get some tickets under the program.

556 schools across the country have been named "model schools for Beijing 2008 Olympic education." Here, the students have prepared for the Games by, among others, having two compulsory class hours per month on the Olympics.

"Tickets will be distributed to students through provincial departments of education to ensure students from all over China will have the opportunity to join the Beijing Games," Gao Hong, vice-director of the Basic Education Department of the Ministry of Education, told China Daily.

Accommodation for students from outside Beijing will be provided by a number of Beijing schools.