Education officials and computer companies will work together to push primary and middle schools into the Information Age, education officials say.

The move is a key step following the National Education Conference held in June, which listed promoting quality education and student creativity as core tasks, Vice-Minister of Education Lu Fuyuan said at a conference yesterday in Beijing.

At the conference, 29 domestic computer companies, joined education experts and officials in their discussion about spreading computer-aided teaching and learning pro-grammes among primary and middle schools.

Popularizing computer-aided learning is also expected to promote development of the information industry, according to the ministry's Department for Basic Education.

Starting form 2001, senior middle schools across the country will open computer and information science courses as compulsory subjects, said department Director-General Li Lianning.

Primary and junior middle schools also are required to open such courses, said Li.

Computers could help make teaching programmes interesting and easy to use, to suit student appetites, Li stressed.

Computer-aided teaching and learning have become popular in some developed countries with the rapid development of technology, according to Li.

Currently in China, only 60,000 primary and middle schools have opened computer-aided teaching courses.

At the conference, Zhu Jianhua, assistant to the president of the famous Legend Group vowed to produce more computers and education software at lower prices and better quality for schools.