China has decided to waive tuition fees for students training to become teachers at six elite teaching universities, according to measures publicized by the Ministry of Education on Wednesday on its website.

From September this year when the autumn semester begins, tuition and accommodation fees will be scrapped for freshmen majoring in education at six top teaching universities in Beijing, Shanghai, Changchun, Wuhan, Xi'an and Chongqing. The students will also be granted an allowance.

The cost of the measure will be covered by the central budget, according to the trial program approved by the State Council last week.

To be eligible for free tuition, the student must agree to work at a primary or middle school for at least ten years after graduation and spend the first two years in a rural school.

Students who have a change of heart during their studies can choose another occupation on graduation, according to the measures, but in this case they must pay back the tuition fees in full.

In the early 1990s, it was common practice for Chinese teaching colleges to offer free education. But as the decade wore on, many teaching institutions started charging fees. At the same time, more and more teaching graduates opted for non-teaching jobs after graduation.

Education at most universities -- tuition, accommodation and expenses -- costs a student an average of about 10,000 yuan (1,280 U.S. dollars) a year so the measures represent savings of about 40,000 yuan (5,120 dollars) over a four-year course of study.

Reporting to the National People's Congress in March, Premier Wen Jiabao said the government will institute free education for students majoring in education in teacher colleges directly under the Ministry of Education.

"The measure will demonstrate to the general public the importance of the teaching field, create an atmosphere of respect for teachers and education in society, increase awareness of the value of the educational profession, produce large numbers of outstanding teachers, encourage prominent educators to run schools and spur more outstanding young people to become lifelong educators," Wen said.

Chinese educators said after experimenting the program in the six designated universities, the government is expected to extend the measure to other normal universities.

Source: Xinhua