BEIJING, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- China's central government allocated 1.98 billion yuan (310 million U.S. dollars) in subsidies for students enrolled in teaching programs at six normal universities, or teachers' colleges, since 2007, according to the Ministry of Finance (MOF).

The funds benefited some 46,000 students from 2007 and 2011, including about 10,597 graduates who have worked as teachers since graduating, said MOF.

In 2007, the State Council, or China's Cabinet, launched a program in six universities offering free educations to teaching students in need of financial aid, with an annual allowance of 12,000 yuan to universities per student.

The program has helped to improve the source of teachers in the country's central and western regions, where most of the 10,597 teachers' college graduates work, said Xu Tao, director of the Normal Education Department of the Ministry of Education.