Goal for education: Eliminate the gap

More efforts are needed to achieve balanced development in China's compulsory education regime, as there are still great disparities between urban and rural areas - and even among schools in the same region - the Ministry of Education said on Wednesday.

Some officials still prefer to build "elite schools" by consolidating high-quality educational resources into several schools in urban areas, according to a ministry report.

"Some newly built residential areas in cities are not equipped with schools, and others only reserve small spaces for school campuses, causing parents to do whatever it takes to send their children to the best schools in other districts," the report said.