China continues mission of equal education for women

China has been committed to poverty alleviation and the empowerment of poor women by offering equal education opportunities for men and women, experts said.

Noting the COVID-19 epidemic brought new challenges to women's poverty alleviation and access to education, ensuring women do not fall back into poverty again is still a challenge with a long road ahead, they said.

Liu Limin, president of the China Education Association for International Exchange, said China has made significant achievements in ensuring men and women have equal access to education.

About 52.5 percent of college students in China are female, and more than 99.8 percent of female children have access to the nation's compulsory education system from first to ninth grade, he said at the Poverty Alleviation through Education and Women's Development. The forum was co-hosted by the association and Renmin University of China.

Jing Nuo, Party secretary of Renmin University of China, said the gender gap in nine-year compulsory education has basically been eliminated in China, and women have significantly more opportunities to attend high school and universities.

While women have benefited from more education, they are also playing a more active role to ensure other women can also enjoy a good education, she said.

Female teachers accounted for 66 percent of the total at primary schools in less-developed central and western regions in China last year, and 55 percent of middle school teachers in the regions were also female, she added.