Deputies of China's top legislature, the National People's Congress, or NPC, are urging the government to make further substantial efforts to resolve issues in the country's educational sector.
Some deputies from local provinces actively echo the education policy from Premier Wen Jiabao's government work report, suggesting that modernization of the nation is mainly attributable to skills.
"We should clarify the status of education in the overall economic development in the country, particularly the need of talents in specific areas. Only in this way can they be of great value to the society."
"I hope that relevant parties will issue concrete measures in accordance with Premier Wen's work report, which is conducive to motivating the enthusiasm of local governments in supporting education development nationwide."
"The largest challenge we are facing is the lack of talents with innovative capability. Compared with reputed universities worldwide, our students are strong in learning knowledge, but weak in innovation."
Premier Wen Jiabao has said the central government allocation for education would increase from over 14 billion U.S. dollars last year to above 20 billion U.S. dollars this year.
Beijing has issued other preferential policies in the education sector, such as abolishing tuition and other school fees in rural areas last spring. It benefited 150 million students, including nearly 8 million from poor families.