IN BRIEF (Page 3)

Agriculture

China's farm produce prices continue to rise

The prices of farm produce in 36 major Chinese cities continued to climb last week, according to official data on Sept 25.

The average wholesale prices of eight aquatic products gained 1.6 percent in the week ending Sept 22 compared with the week earlier, a Ministry of Commerce statement said.

The price of eggs rose 0.7 percent from the previous week.

The cost of beef rose 0.6 percent, chicken prices rose 0.3 percent, pork prices rose 0.2 percent and the cost of mutton rose 0.1 percent.

However, the average wholesale prices of 18 kinds of vegetables fell 1.3 percent from a week earlier.

The price of kidney beans shrank 11.7 percent, the cost of aubergines, or eggplants, fell 7.4 percent and the price of tomatoes fell 5.2 percent.

The slump in the cost of vegetables was because it is high season for certain products, resulting in huge supply that pushed prices down. The cost of food accounts for about one-third of the prices used to calculate China's consumer price index, a main gauge of inflation.

Education

Schools nationwide to receive supervisors

Supervisors will be appointed to all primary and secondary schools across China by the end of the year, a move that officials said will improve the regulation of education for children.

The Ministry of Education announced on Sept 23 that China's 300,000 public primary and secondary schools will have a supervisor to oversee the work of staff, instruct teachers and handle complaints from parents.

Supervisors will be appointed by local education authorities and each one will look after about five schools, visiting them at least once a month. They will monitor various aspects of performance, including school management, student recruitment, fees, curriculum design, campus environment, student workloads, teaching quality and ethics.

They will also respond to complaints or accusations from parents, write reports and come up with solutions to any problems encountered, the ministry said.

The names, photographs, contact details and responsibilities of supervisors will be displayed near the entrance to each school, ensuring that parents can contact them easily.

Guidelines for pupils backed by 90 percent

The Ministry of Education has ended the collection of suggestions for 10 guidelines to reduce school pupils' workloads, having received 1,209 comments since Sept 5.

Most of the guidelines were backed by more than 90 percent of people, with nearly 70 percent supporting the controversial idea to reduce homework. It is the second time the 10 guidelines have been open for public comments and suggestions. From Aug 22 to 29, the first occasion, 5,956 comments were received. The ministry said it will consider and integrate the suggestions before a final version of the guidelines is implemented.

China Daily

(China Daily Africa Weekly 09/27/2013 page3)