China to revise law on compulsory education
( 2003-10-29 09:38) (Xinhua)
A report from one of the
special committees of the National People's Congress (NPC) has recommended
speeding up the revision of the Law on Compulsory Education.
The report submitted by the education, science, culture and public health
committee was passed here Tuesday by the NPC Standing Committee.
The Law on Compulsory Education and the Educational Law have played important
roles in the establishment of the compulsory education scheme and the
popularization of the nine-year compulsory education, said the report.
However, it noted some provisions of the two laws did not meet the current
situation as the administrative and financing systems have changed under the
background of a socialist market economy and the taxation reform spreading
widely in rural areas.
A total of about 600 deputies to the First Session of the 10th NPC held in
March this year jointly signed a motion regarding the revision of the
17-year-old law on compulsory education. There had never been a motion winning
so much support from so many legislators in the NPC's history.
The deputies appealed to well define channels for investment in education and
identify the responsibility of the government at all levels so as to guarantee
the sustainable development of education in rural areas.
Statistics show that by 2002, 90 percent of the Chinese population had been
covered by the nine-year compulsory education scheme.
But there are still 85 million illiterate and semi-illiterate people in the
country, with three fourths of them in rural areas.
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