Senior legislator urges better pay for teachers

Senior legislator Chen Zhu on Monday urged education authorities to improve teachers' income to ensure sound development of the teaching sector. While examining how the Compulsory Education Law is implemented in northwest China's Xinjiang, Chen, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), said, "Teachers, especially those working in border and ethnic minority areas, have made great contributions to China's education cause." However, authorities should invest more in human resource development as well as in educational facilities, said Chen. They should improve the income of teachers in grassroot communities and establish a sound compensation system to encourage more to go to work and stay in the communities, the legislator said. The NPC, China's top legislature, sent teams to conduct on-site inspections of the law's implementation in eight provinces, while local legislatures were asked to carry out the duties on behalf of the NPC.