President Jiang Zemin described the healthy growth of youths as pressing, and said it is a major issue concerning the direction of China's education development if they are able to develop morally, intellectually and physically.

After hearing of a second-grader at a high school in Jinhua city of east China's Zhejiang Province who hammer his mother to death because she pressed him to learn harder still and two other similar incidents, Jiang said, the issue of reducing the students' workload became a nationwide concern and it is worth pondering. Education departments and leading education officials have been urged to take effective, prompt measures for further improving education, according to President Jiang's talk.

There have been a number of tragic incidents at schools at different levels around the country. Despite these incidents, President Jiang recalled, the Communist Party of China (CPC) and central authorities have been working very hard to develop education ever since new China was founded in 1949.

Tremendous progress has been scored over the past 50 years in the cause of education, which has helped train a great number of outstanding, talented people for the country's socialist construction, Jiang added.

Before 1949, however, some 80 percent of the China's 400 million-plus population were illiterate, he noted. And today, out of China's population of 1.25 billion, 240 million are young people and children who are receiving education in schools nationwide. President Jiang further noted that education is a systematic project, which is aimed at increasing the knowledge and improving moral integrity of students.

Teachers, who are often referred to as "soul engineers", should play an exemplary role. Schools, students' families and society at large should look after youths and encourage them to make progress and turn themselves into healthy adults, Jiang said. Today, as most families in China have only one child, they naturally want very much to provide their child with easy access to still better education. The education system should cultivate and help these children to become valuable members of society. But some students complain about heavy workload and too much home assignments and they are enduring enormous pressure to perform well at school, the Chinese president said. While focusing on the academic attainments of the students, quite a number of schools do not attach due importance to developing and cultivating the students as individuals, Jiang added.

Jiang emphasized that it is essential for China's young people to apply themselves to their work. And pedagogical methods are extremely important in the process. Nevertheless, if students are only confined themselves to their class rooms or studies, burying themselves in piles of homework, they will, beyond any doubt, lack essential social skills and practical experiences. So schools are crucial in educating China's youth.

All educational authorities should give scope to their role of education in China and strike a balance between theory study and social practice, Jiang said.

Although China's higher education has made very rapid progress in the last two decades and a drastic rise was reported in the enrollment of universities and colleges in China, not every person has the opportunity to get a higher education.

Jiang also said that not only are college graduates valuable workers for the construction of socialism. The country is also in urgent need of skilled people from all professions. China requires knowledge-based industries as well as labor-intensive industries, as economic development and social progress require diversified demands for qualified personnel.

Since education is a systematic project, whole society should care for and support the education cause, and patriotism, collectivism and socialism among the young people should be enhanced. And everyone should work hard to cultivate moral conduct and develop a healthy outlook on life for China's youth. Moreover, ethics should be further promoted at schools and incorrigible students should be given particular attention. Jiang also stressed that legal studies become a compulsory part of education in students and young people as a whole. Cultivating socialist ethics and cultural progress among China' s youths is an indispensable part of education and vital for training and upbringing healthy, useful adults who can make all kinds of valuable contributions for their socialist country.