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China will make further efforts to improve compulsory education for the children of migrant workers, Education Minister Yuan Guiren said Wednesday.

Yuan said that children who follow their parents to study and live in cities will be included in the financial security system and considered in the regional education development plan.

Children who are separated from their working parents and are attending schools in their hometowns will be given priority at boarding schools in rural areas, Yuan said.

According to the Ministry of Education (MOE), the central government has invested 28 billion yuan (US$4.5 billion) over the last three years into reinforcing the construction of 300 million square meters of dormitory space which had potential safety hazards.

"The MOE has urged primary and middle schools to strengthen safety education, and schools equipped with school buses should set up a management mechanism to ensure traffic safety," Yuan said.

In 2011, the MOE signed memoranda with 27 regions at the provincial level to ensure the education schedule and the main tasks for local schools, a move aimed at improving China's overall level of compulsory education, Yuan added.

Moreover, the MOE and other government bodies, including the State Council and the General Administration of Press and Publication, carried out investigations into reference book markets and strengthened regulations on the editing, printing and distributing of such books in 2011.

The MOE will also make further efforts to impose stricter supervision over publication and distribution channels, Yuan said.

At the end of 2011, some publishing houses, book dealers and schools were held accountable for seeking illegal kickbacks by forcing students to buy certain reference books.

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