Chinese teacher Cui Lianrui (2nd L) and principal Zhao Jincheng help students with study in Nanbei Village in Lingchuan County, north China's Shanxi Province, on May 31, 2020. (Xinhua/Yang Chenguang)

BEIJING, June 10  -- China will dispatch more than 22,000 teachers this year to the country's poverty-stricken regions to work for one year, the Ministry of Education said Wednesday.

This is part of an annual government program providing educational support for the country's poor areas, including contiguous areas of extreme poverty.

A total of 22,842 teachers will be selected for the program for the 2020-2021 academic year, of whom 21,635 will work in the field of compulsory education, from elementary to junior high school, according to a circular posted on the ministry website.

Under the program, the teachers usually work in poor areas for one year, but they can opt to extend their stay.

Calling the move a key step to advance China's targeted poverty reduction through education, the circular urged local authorities to coordinate epidemic control and anti-poverty efforts, implement the program well and ensure that teachers safely take up their new posts.