China's education have scored remarkable achievements since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, especially since the country adopted its reform and opening up policy in the late 1970s.

Following are facts and figures given by Vice Minister of Education Hao Ping at a press conference Monday:

-- Illiteracy rate in the 15 to 45 age group has been brought down to 3.58 percent from more than 80 percent for Chinese adults when the New China was founded.

-- China has 14.63 million teachers in educational institutions, up from 930,000 in 1949.

-- At present, 99.5 percent of the school-age children could get access to primary schools, while the rate in 1949 was less than 20 percent.

-- About 98.5 percent of primary school graduates are able to continue their study at junior middle schools compared with 6 percent in 1949.

-- China has more than 20 million students studying in 2,263 higher learning institutions. Only about 120,000 students were studying in colleges and universities when the New China was founded.

-- China's colleges and universities recruited more than 6 million students each year, with the enrolment rate standing at 23.3 percent of those who applied to sit the National College Entrance Examination.

-- China, with a population of 1.3 billion, has more than 82 million employees with a higher education qualification.

-- More than 220,000 foreigners were studying in China in 2008 and nearly 180,000 Chinese were studying abroad. The figures were 33 and 35 in 1950.

(Xinhua News Agency September 28, 2009)

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