URUMQI, July 5 (Xinhua) -- Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region has strengthened financial and institutional support to control the number of school dropouts and ensure every student receives a fair and high-quality compulsory education, the region's education authorities said Sunday.

Last year, more than 86.3 billion yuan (about 12.2 billion U.S. dollars) was invested in education from the region's general public budget, an increase of more than 4.7 billion yuan over 2018.

By the end of last year, Xinjiang's gross kindergarten enrollment rate reached 97.51 percent. The net enrollment rate of primary schools and junior middle schools hit 99.97 percent and 99.78 percent, respectively.

Liu Yuguang, deputy head of the Xinjiang regional education department, said the region will continue strengthening the construction of compulsory education schools and promote the balanced, high-quality development of compulsory education.  ■