Both teachers and students in Guyuan City, West China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, have benefited from the modern distance education network.

An official with the local educational bureau said that in the past, educational facilities were in severe shortage and teachers were sparse and not well educated in poverty-stricken Guyuan city.

In 2001, the local government launched a distance education plan, bringing 491 primary and middle schools modern educational methods, the official said.

Touying middle school, set to be a pilot school for distance education, was equipped with 34 computers all linked onto the school's local area network (LAN).

Ma Shangjin, the school principal, said distance education broadened the skills of teachers, improving their teaching qualities while raising the interest of students, bringing them more study initiatives.

Hu Shunping, a teacher for 10 years in the middle school, had learnt many new ideas from the new way of education.

"Students rather than teachers play the main role in the distance education process, which helps to exert their potential and contributes to a good interactive effect in class," said Hu.

Ma Li, a 14-year-old student at the school, said that the atmosphere of the class became more lively thanks to the introduction of the new method," she said.