How education fund is used is a question that calls for attention

FOR THE FIRST TIME, China's expenditure on education exceeded 3 trillion yuan ($460 billion) last year, accounting for 4.22 percent of GDP, according to a joint statement by the Ministry of Education, the National Bureau of Statistics and the Ministry of Finance. Southern Metropolis Daily commented on Friday:

For five consecutive years the share of China's education spending in GDP has stayed above 4 percent, an indicator of consistency in education spending. Albeit the average figure in wealthy nations, such as the United States and Japan was 4.8 percent of their GDP in 2001, China is catching up fast.

With China crossing the 4 percent threshold, the focus now shifts to whether the money is efficiently used. Progress has been made in leveling the playing field for schools at all levels and narrowing the gap between rural and urban education.