Second, we supported faster development of education, science and culture. Total expenditures across the country for education in 2005 amounted to 395.159 billion yuan, a 17.4 % year-on-year increase. Spending on education from the central government budget grew by 15.9% to reach 38.438 billion yuan. This included 33.864 billion yuan spent on education at the central government level, 17.2% more than the previous year, making the rate of increase higher than the growth rate for regular revenue in the central government budget. Over 7 billion yuan in special funds was allocated by the central government and local governments at all levels to extend the "two exemptions and one allowance" program [exemption from paying for textbooks, exemption from paying for miscellaneous education-related fees and allowances for room and board for the children of poor rural families living at schools while receiving compulsory education, tr.], benefiting 34 million primary and secondary school students in the central and western regions. An additional 5.5 billion yuan was allocated from the central government budget to continue supporting programs such as the project to renovate dangerous primary and secondary school buildings across the country, the plan to make nine-year compulsory education basically universal and basically eliminate illiteracy among young and middle-aged adults in the western region, and projects to support modern distance education in rural primary and secondary schools and make adjustments in the geographic distribution of such schools. The central government earmarked 770 million yuan in a special fund to set up experimental vocational training centers and strengthen support for the reform and development of vocational education. A special fund of 3.26 billion yuan was set up to continue implementation of the 211 Project and the May 1998 Project for higher education and other key projects to enhance the ability of universities to make advances in science and technology and serve society. The central government also set aside 3.64 billion yuan in a special fund to continue supporting reform of the management system of colleges and universities. Especially worth noting is that in 2005, a yearly state scholarship fund of 1 billion yuan was set up in the central government budget to offer more aid to needy university students. The country's total expenditures on science and technology in 2005 reached 99.156 billion yuan, a 20.9% year-on-year increase. Of this amount, 60.078 billion yuan was from the central government budget, an increase of 21.8%. Efforts were focused on setting up a national platform to develop basic conditions for science and technology and the pilot knowledge innovation program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. China spent 69.288 billion yuan on culture, sports, and radio, 18% more than the previous year, of which 9.927 billion yuan was from the central government budget, up 17%. Efforts to develop cultural facilities at the lower levels were strengthened and continued support was given to national programs to share cultural information and resources, extend radio and TV coverage to every village, and send books to the countryside. A special fund of 250 million yuan was allocated to preserve important heritage sites, such as major historical and cultural ruins.