2. We constantly improved oversight means. During its oversight work the Standing Committee discovered problems in the work itself, problems related to the law and certain problems that were accumulated over time. In order to make our oversight work more focused, we deliberately combined the deliberation of special work reports with investigation of law enforcement, combined efforts to improve our work with efforts to revise and improve laws, and concentrated on improving follow-up oversight. For problems in the work itself, we urged concerned parties to improve their work to solve those problems. For problems related to the law, we promptly revised the relevant statutes, thereby strengthening legal guarantees for corresponding work. For key problems and difficult problems that are of great concern among deputies, we carried out repeated investigations and worked to completely resolve them. The constant improvement in oversight means made the oversight work of the NPC more focused and full of vitality.
One problem of great concern to people in recent years has been the great difficulty and expense of getting an education. To address this problem, we carried out an investigation in 2004 into enforcement of the Law on Compulsory Education and made two important suggestions, one to set up a mechanism for guaranteeing adequate funding for the operating expenses of compulsory education and the other to revise the Law on Compulsory Education. The State Council promptly worked out a draft revision of the Law on Compulsory Education at the suggestion of the Standing Committee. When we deliberated this draft revision, we heard and deliberated special work reports on making compulsory education more widely available and developing competence-oriented education in 2006. Then in 2007 we carried out an inspection to see how the newly revised Law on Compulsory Education was being enforced, focusing on how well the mechanism for guaranteeing adequate funding for the operating expenses of compulsory education was being implemented. This gave a strong boost to implementation of the Law on Compulsory Education and improvement in the distribution of compulsory education across the country.
Prevention and control of water pollution is a daunting and long-term task. We adopted a number of ways to continuously track and oversee the serious problem of constantly worsening water pollution. In 2004 we heard and deliberated a special work report on the conservation, protection and wise use of water resources. In 2005 we conducted an investigation into the enforcement of the Law on the Prevention and Control of Water Pollution and the Water Law. In conjunction with hearing and deliberating a special work report on the state of the water environment and efforts to prevent and control water pollution, in 2006 we again investigated the implementation of the Law on the Prevention and Control of Water Pollution. In conjunction with hearing and deliberating a special work report on efforts to save energy and protect the environment, in 2007 we carried out a follow-up inspection to again check on efforts to prevent and control water pollution in the areas around the Huai and Liao rivers.