Critics say pressing problems are not being addressed
A major increase in the central government's education budget has largely failed to impress critics, with many saying Beijing should do more to provide equal and adequate access to education for all.
In the government work report delivered at the National People's Congress session in Beijing yesterday, Premier Wen Jiabao pledged to increase central government spending on education by more than 45 per cent to 156.2 billion yuan (HK$171 billion) this year.
Mr Wen assured that regional governments would also make more money available to boost the sector, but stopped short of saying if the mainland could meet a target set in 2000 to spend the equivalent of at least 4 per cent of gross domestic product on education, an internationally accepted threshold for adequate funding in the sector.
Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference delegate Li Junru , who is vice-president of the Communist Party Central Committee's Party School, said the premier appeared to dodge the issue in his report.
Li Jingjie , another CPPCC delegate, from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said there was no way the target could be met, 'so the issue wasn't written into the report'.
Li Jingjie said the mainland's outlay on education peaked at 3.01 per cent of GDP in 2006 and even some poorer countries like Cambodia had done a better job in meeting the 4 per cent target.
