China will take measures to promote education in accordance with law, and provide a strong legal guarantee for maintaining priority status for education, a top education official said December 7.

Zhu Kaixuan, chairman of the Education, Science, Culture and Public Health Committee of the National People Congress, was speaking at the national conference on the legal work in education, which opened on December 7.

The conference, co-sponsored by the NPC Education, Science, Culture and Public Health Committee and the Ministry of Education, is the first of its kind held since the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949.

Zhu said that the Chinese government has paid great attention to the legal construction in education. Since 1980, the NPC and the NPC standing committee have issued 16 education regulations and laws including the Education Law, the Compulsory Education Law, and the Higher Education Law, all of which have largely promoted China's education reform and development.

However, there is still much work to do, said Zhu, such as supplementing and amending the present educational law system and promoting educational law.

Minister of Education Chen Zhili said that the CPC central committee and the State Council have taken a series of steps to deepen education reform and development this year. Education departments should promote and guarantee education reform through legal channels, Chen said.

Chen also pointed out that education departments at all levels should protect youth and students' legal rights, cooperate with other departments to establish a comprehensive enforcement system, and provide legal direction and assistance to middle and primary schools. (Xinhua)