Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Monday announced a hefty educational investment plan of the year, making education a "strategic priority."

A total of 85.85 billion yuan (11 billion U.S. dollars) will be allocated from the central budget this year, an increase of 41.7 percent over the previous year, government statistics show.

Part of the central educational fund will be used to grant more poor students the access to education, said Wen while delivering a government work report to the just-opened annual parliamentary session.

"This is another major move we are taking to promote fairness in education following the exemption of all tuition and miscellaneous fees for rural students receiving compulsory education," said the premier, addressing the deputies to the National People's Congress (NPC), the top legislature.

A system of national scholarships and tuition assistance will go into operation this semester, which starts in early March, for regular undergraduate institutions, vocational colleges and secondary vocational schools, said the premier.

Funds appropriated for this purpose by the central government will be 9.5 billion yuan (1.22 billion U.S. dollars) this year and 20 billion yuan (2.56 billion U.S. dollars) next year, and local governments should allocate corresponding amounts from local budgets.

"Education is the bedrock of China's development, and fairness in education is an important form of social fairness. We need to make education a strategic priority and accelerate the development of all types of education at all levels," said Wen.

The country will further implement the state student loan system that was introduced in 1999 in eight major cities including Beijing and Shanghai and was extended to the rest of the country in 2004.

In China, some families have to pay 8,000 yuan (976 U.S. dollars) every year to support a college student. Such a figure might be years of income for a farmer.

In another major move highlighted in the government work report, Wen said the country will grant free education for students majoring in education in teacher colleges.

"The move is to show respect for teachers and education in society and to produce larger numbers of outstanding teachers," said the premier, adding the new policy is "to encourage prominent educators to run schools and more outstanding young people to become lifelong educators."

Chinese schools, especially rural village schools, lack sufficient and qualified teachers, despite increasing investment from the government.

At present, many primary and middle schools are still short of teachers specializing in foreign languages, information technology, music, fine arts and physical education.