The teaching of ethics tops the 10 priority development goals set by the Beijing educational department for the year 2002, according to the Guangming Daily.

The decision was made in response to a call from the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, which issued the Implementation Outline on Ethics Building of Citizens last year.

The city will also double its efforts to improve the local educational environment.

According to the Guangming Daily Sunday, this year, primary schools and junior high schools not up to the state standards will either be closed down or merged with others.

A shuttle service will be set up to enable students at 140 rural boarding primary schools and junior high schools to commute from their homes.

Extra finance will be added in this year's educational budget to help solve the enrollment problems of children of migrant laborers, says the paper.

Starting in next autumn semester, courses like English and information technology will begin at grade three level of some primary schools and second foreign language courses will be offered in some junior high schools on a trial basis.

(Xinhua News Agency February 25, 2002)