Children in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have begun attending school this week instead of sifting for minerals in a vast open-cast mine.
Some 250 children in the province of Katanga have been given school places in and around the town of Kigoma.
The project is being run by a Belgian organisation, Groupe One, with funding from the government in Brussels and the UN children's agency, Unicef.
The plight of the children of Katanga was featured in a BBC report this year.
The report, timed to coincide with the World Day Against Child Labour, showed three boys working in Katanga's Ruashi mine, where 800 children worked digging for copper and cobalt.
Eight-year-old twins Decu and Kabu and their friend 15-year-old Cedric told the BBC how they wanted to go to school but their families could not afford the fees.
Cedric told the BBC this week he was now thrilled to be at the Maman Mbuyi school in Kigoma "to become more intelligent and to have the opportunity to improve my life".
Decu said school was much better than working at the mine.
"I already made friends and we play together," he said.
Cut-off date
A total of 250 former child miners aged between eight and 15 began school this week in Ruashi, near Kigoma.
Fees of $75 (£40) per year for primary school pupils and $100 (£53) per year for older pupils are being covered by the scheme run by Groupe One.
That money includes the cost of new uniforms, often an extra expense families cannot afford.
The scheme has a budget of $90,000 (£48,000), one-third of it provided by Unicef.
Help is also being provided to the children's families to cover the loss of income.
Funding is secure until next year, but the Belgian scheme is due to wind up during 2007.
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