A recent survey indicates the Chinese continue to hold teachers in high regard.
  
According to a China Youth Daily survey of 1,089 readers, 76.3 percent of the respondents said teachers had been the most influential people in their lives and 91.5 percent thought it was "respectable and decent" to be a teacher. The survey was carried out to coincide with Teachers' Day, which fell on Tuesday.
  
The survey also showed that 91.6 percent think the most talented people in society should be the ones to take up teaching.
  
China started to cancel tuition fees for students in some schools directly sponsored by the Ministry of Education this semester.
  
Seventy-three percent supported the policy and regarded it as a positive signal that the Chinese government is paying more attention to education but 60.1 percent said the policy needed to be extended to more provincial schools.

(Xinhua News Agency September 12, 2007)