Put focus on education

Equal opportunity for education epitomizes the most basic and important social right, said Premier Wen Jiabao over the weekend. He further emphasized that China would try to balance the development of compulsory education in 10 years.

That means more educational resources need to be shifted to underdeveloped rural areas not simply to guarantee that children there can afford a nine-year education - from the primary to junior high schools - whatever their economic conditions, but to make sure that they receive exceptional education.

As early as the 1920s, some educationists realized that underdevelopment in rural areas and the ignorance of rural villagers had much to do with a lack of education. China launched rural schools to teach villagers about basic subjects and methods in which they could manage their own affairs and help themselves.