VANCOUVER, Jan. 24 (Xinhua) -- The British Columbia government fulfilled an election promise Friday by announcing that Richmond's Kwantlen Polytechnic University will host the Canadian province's first public school of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).

While no date has been set for the school's opening in the Vancouver suburb city, provincial advanced education minister Amrik Virk asked the university to have it operational by the end of next year.

Currently there are six privately-operated TCM schools in the Vancouver area offering diploma programs that require three to five year to complete. As part of its campaign platform in last May's provincial election, the ruling BC Liberal Party announced its intention to open a publicly funded TCM school.

"Having it (the TCM school) at a publicly funded university adds a different level of acceptance to a program," said Virk, who spoke to reporters as an acupuncturist jabbed needles into his body.

He stressed that while TCM did have skeptics regarding its effectiveness, the creation of the school was all about "providing British Columbians with a whole host of complementary health care options."

"In selecting that post-secondary institution that will host the first public school of TCM is, I think we'll all agree, is one incredible milestone. The school, combined with potential international partnerships, will benefit all British Columbians."

While no details were provided about how much the new school would cost, Virk said he wanted it to be "self-sustaining."

He noted that tuition at the province's post-secondary institutions, however, only covered about 25 to 33 percent of a program's cost with the rest being taxpayer subsidized.

The next step for the new school is the creation of an advisory committee. Richard Lee, a member of the Legislative Assembly, has been appointed by Virk as the TCM Parliamentary Secretary and he will oversee the appointment of the committee.