Rural education reforms in spotlight at expo
China DailyChina needs to balance education resources and narrow the gap between urban and rural areas, ensuring students have equal access to high-quality education, experts said during the ongoing 6th China Education Innovation Expo in Zhuhai, Guangdong province. Song Hongyuan, an expert with the Office of the Central Leading Group for Rural Work, said during a panel discussion that although China has made strides in promoting equal education and rural teachers' conditions have improved, the gap still exists. "Teachers are the key to improving education quality," Song said, adding that the age and educational background of teachers should be seriously considered to enhance the quality of rural education. "I believe equal education doesn't mean that the rural teaching system must catch up with the urban level, but that it must develop it into a special form that fits the conditions of villages," Wang said.