Charity program to boost Shanghai teenagers' studies

Forty-three underprivileged teenagers in Shanghai have been sponsored by a charity program to continue their high school studies.

The program, Reach the Future, was launched in July.

In China, the government provides nine years of compulsory education for primary school and junior high school, which does not include high school. A year's tuition in Shanghai costs about 3,000 yuan ($490).

In just one month, 129,000 yuan ($21,070), more than the program's original goal, has been raised.

The 43 teenagers can benefit from this funding for one academic year, according to Shanghai Landseed International Hospital, the first Taiwan-invested hospital on the Chinese mainland and the program’s initiator.

All donations have gone to the Shanghai Sunrise Foundation, a non-profit charity group that helps poverty-stricken families through educational sponsorships.

More than 1,800 underprivileged students in the city have received scholarships through the foundation in the past 18 years.