China shows determination to increase education fund

China’s annual fiscal expenditure on education has surpassed 2 trillion yuan (6.28 yuan against the U.S. dollar) at present, according to the work report delivered by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao at the opening meeting of the annual full session of the National People's Congress (NPC) on March 5, 2013. China will continue to increase fiscal expenditure on education in the future.
　
It is a sign that shows the Party and government’s determination to give priority to develop national education, said Yan Weifang, the director of Education and Economy Research Institute of Beijing University.

The fiscal expenditure on education reached 4 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) for the first time in 2012. The increase input expenditure on education has boosted the rapid development of education, Yan said.

The education development is still imbalanced in different regions, especially in the aspects of vocational education, preschool education. Problems of difficulties to enter schools or kindergartens have not been solved yet in some regions. All these problems are closely related to every family where the government should attach great importance.

Yan added that the 4 percentage input for education will not be the final target. In a long run, it is the historical law of global education development to increase fiscal education proportion fund as the GDP growth.
　　
By considering how to make full use of the fiscal education fund, the government report emphasized that rational distribution system, supervision and cost-benefit analysis should help students to benefit from the fund.
　　
The new added education fund must prioritize rural areas, poverty-stricken regions, regions inhabited by ethnic groups and students whose families are facing financial difficulties.
　　
We should increase the public fiscal education expenditure gradually and local governments must implement priority of education development, Yan said, adding that a simple comparison with developed counties without considering China’s national conditions is not reasonable.

Edited and translated by Ma Xi, People's Daily Online
Read the Chinese version: 数字解读政府工作报告
Source:People's Daily