Student lunches are prepared at a junior school canteen in Ganzhou district, Zhangye city of Gansu province. [Photo/Xinhua]

BASED ON their monthly consumption in the university canteen, which is the cheapest place for them to eat, students from poor families at Nanjing University of Science and Technology, can now directly receive subsidies without applying for them or having their applications disclosed. Beijing News on Saturday applauded such "off-the-record" subsidies:

By subsidizing financially disadvantaged students in this way, Nanjing University of Science and Technology is demonstrating a more considerate and targeted approach.

By extending subsidies to students based on their monthly consumption in the university canteen, it is offering support to those in need without drawing any undue attention to them.

The University of Science and Technology of China, which is located in Hefei, East China's Anhui province, began doing this in 2005, and no students have dropped out of their courses over the past ten 10 years because of financial difficulties.

That an increasing number of Chinese colleges and high schools are seeking more considerate ways to subsidize disadvantaged students has a lot to do with their determination to respect the dignity of students from poorer families. This is in stark contrast to some schools, which disclose the information, including home addresses and photos, of subsidized students without their consent.

Of course, "secretly" funding some students in need is not perfect, as there might be loopholes in supervision.

And it is possible a student may deliberately increase his or her purchases in a university or school canteen in pursuit of a subsidy. That requires the school authorities enhance their supervision to make sure the subsidies are properly and fairly spent.