1. Labor Daily: I’m from the Labor Daily. I have two questions. First question is for Mr Yin, director of the city education commission. Some parents of the migrant families want to know whether there will be new policies in the new semester on the migrant children’s schools. And will there be any possible pilot program that allows their children to enter local high schools after the (nine-year) compulsory education?
The other question is for Chairman Yu of the city’s science association. We read a news report that the science and technology museum programs will enter schools. As the programs feature mostly hands-on activities, how will the plan be carried out? In addition, you’re collecting 100 robot innovative ideas from youngsters. Does it mean that the youngsters can forward their blueprints direct to your commission for selection? Thank you.

Yin Houqing: I’ll give a brief answer to the question about the migrant children’s schools and migrant children education in Shanghai. In February 2004, the city government’s general office circulated documents jointly issued by seven departments including the city education commission. These documents require that public schools should be the main venues for migrant children to receive the compulsory education and that each district should try their best to increase the proportion of migrant children in public schools. In addition, the documents require administration of migrant children’s schools be strengthened and public schools treat migrant children equally as their local counterparts. Since 2004, the city education commission has allocated 30 million yuan annually to support migrant children’s schools. In 2007, the commission spent 30 million yuan and district governments more than 15 million yuan (including a small proportion of fund from the migrant children’s schools) to renovate canteens, toilets, classroom lighting, libraries and other facilities at migrant children’s schools. The goals for the year have been reached.
From 2007, the education commission began to buy school-liability policies for migrant children’s schools, ensuring that 160,000 migrant children at these schools are covered by the insurance as in local public schools. In early 2008, the commission issued a directive on further improving education systems for migrant children. The directive requires the district education administrations plan and allocate resources for the compulsory education in a proper manner and increase the proportion of migrant children in public schools. Migrant children now account for 57.1 percent of the students at public schools, we hope to raise the proportion to 60% this year, (42.9 percent of the migrant children now study at migrant children’s schools) and 70 percent by 2010, and reduce the 42.9 percent to 30 percent or even lower. In principle, the migrant children should study at public schools, but what about those children who don’t have the chance? We’ll gradually make them enter privately run schools. There were 258 migrant children’s schools in 2007, but the figure may have changed each month. This year, we plan to include 60 qualified schools of the 258 into privately run schools and provide more funds to improve education facilities at these schools. We plan to give 500,000 yuan to each of these schools, and more subsidies to students there. That’s what we’re going to do in the next few years about the migrant children’s education.
Now I’d like to talk about the question on the exemption of tuition and miscellaneous fees and textbook cost for migrant children. The exemption of tuition and miscellaneous fees mainly applies to students at public schools. It also applies to students at a privately run school which“has been entrusted by the government to offer compulsory education.”There would be no need to entrust (privately run schools) if the public schools could enroll all the children. Anyway, it is up to the children whether to choose a privately run school. If the public schools cannot enroll all the children, the government will entrust some privately run schools. For a privately run school that has been entrusted by the government (to offer compulsory education), if it enrolls 500 students, the government will ask it to set apart 200 of the quota for compulsory education, which means these students will be exempted from tuition and miscellaneous fees. The exemption of textbook cost applies to all the city’s public and privately run schools (including auditor students from out of town). There is no problem if a migrant child studies at a public school. But if the migrant child studies at a privately run school -- please note -- which refers to a school that has registered at the civil affairs bureau as a private non-enterprise entity and has the qualifications for an independent legal person, and has been entrusted by the government to offer compulsory education for migrant children, the child is also exempted from the textbook cost.
The migrant children’s schools are not public schools, nor privately run schools in the full sense. These schools have been a byproduct from special historical conditions, namely, in the 1990s when a huge number of migrants moved into the city where educational resources were not enough and educational systems were not well prepared for the influx. These schools did play a positive role in offering education to the migrant population, but there were a lot of problems, which have attracted attention from the public. To fulfill the government’s duty in offering compulsory education and uproot these problems and guarantee the migrant children rights to basic education, we have come up with plans. As I said just now, we plan to include all those qualified migrant children’s schools into the privately run school system and shut those disqualified within three years. Of course, during the three years, the government will offer support in security, hygiene and basic facilities to existent migrant children’s schools. When all these schools have been converted into the privately run school system in three years and 70 percent of the migrant children have entered public schools, they will be entitled to the exemption of textbook cost and miscellaneous fees.

Yu Tao: I’ll answer the question briefly. The program of science and technology museum programs entering schools, is a nationwide science education activity jointly launched nationwide by the China Association for Science and Technology, the Ministry of Education and the Civilization Office of the CPC Central Committee, The“science museum”doesn’t refer to the common science museum, but rather a package of activities including demonstration, research, science popularization report, online analog science museum, multimedia presentation, and field activities at science education centers in some research institutes, colleges and enterprises. The package is expected to offer the youngsters fun in science activities in and out of school.
How to bring these museum activities into school? Shanghai will turn some programs into digital and interactive forms before taking them to schools where the youngsters can learn and get a feel without stepping out of school. This is part of the question, namely, how to bring them to school. The other part, which I have talked over with Mr Yin many times, is to turn the science museums into the classrooms. So the question involves two aspects: one is to move into the school and the other to make students go out into the classrooms converted from science museums.
You also asked how we can get the 100 robot innovation ideas. I think we have two channels:
One channel is the annual robot-related contests in Shanghai. Each year, an Intel Shanghai youth technological innovation competition is held, which includes a robot contest involving more than 200 programs, from which we can choose. There is also an annual China Youth Robot Contest in May, and Shanghai, as one of the contest regions, offers a platform for the students to participate, either entering the contest by bringing good programs, or showcasing their programs at online science museums.
The other channel is to collect the works across the city or in a larger area. This can make the youngsters’good ideas, creations and works included into our collection and let more children enjoy them. Thank you.

2. Shanghai Television Station: I’m from Shanghai Television Station. I have two questions. The first question about the private car plate auction is for the government spokesman. The January auction is spoiled by online jamming, which prevented many bidders from revising their bid prices. What measures will the city take to improve the upcoming auction in March? The second question is for Mr Yu. You said just now that Shanghai has a program to support the west China in youth science education. What are the exact steps?

Chen Qiwei: The public is concerned about the car plate auction. The network jamming in the January auction resulted from three reasons: a large number of citizens who hadn’t bought the bid book crammed the network of telephone lines for a long time for no better reasons than onlooking. Though authorities had done enough publicity for the bidding rules, some bidders were still unaware of the rule that“the revised prices must be within the revision range, and they turned in invalid revision prices repeatedly, wasting the network traffic resources. When the bidders had difficulty logging onto the network, they became so anxious to tender their bids that they mobilized all those around them to get into the bidding system by telephone, mobile phone and computer simultaneously.
The problem needs to be fixed by revising the bidding rules and improving the bidding system capacity, and solutions are being studied and tested. The key to revising the bidding rules is that those who are not bidding should be prevented from occupying the bidding system or the same bidder be prevented from accessing the system through multiple means at the same time. The following measures will be taken in the auction next month. One, the identity of the online surfers on the network should be checked and the improper time of a call-in bidder should be controlled. Two, the bidding system window will be improved to offer timely bidding information to make sure the bidders can tender their bids and check information without shifting to other windows. At the same time, authorities will improve their services in perfecting the network and telephone systems and ensuring security of the services.
The time and quota for the March auction will be announced by the auction company.
To prevent the scalpers and some car dealers hording the quota to drive up the prices, authorities are losing no time working on a plan to regulate the transaction of second-hand cars. Meanwhile, the current rule that“transference of the ownership of a car is not allowed within one year since the car gets a license plate”will be strictly enforced in the near future.

Yu Tao: We’ll spread some experiences to the western regions in the following two ways:
One, we’ll bring some of our pilot programs in Shanghai and the science education resources we have accumulated in the past ears, including our“technological data folder”and some multimedia courseware and other facilities and programs, to the western areas for the youngsters there to share for free.
Two, we’ll choose some scientists and science workers that have participated in our science education programs and some good teachers and volunteers to train teachers from the western areas for the science education work. So far, we have brought the two services to eight provincial areas in the past two years, and the results turned out better than we expected. We’ll carry on the western tour services this year, and focus on Tibet. We welcome Shanghai Television Station and other media outlets to join the western tour. Thank you.

3. Wenhui Daily: I’m from Wenhui Daily. The first question is for the government spokesman about the use of the funds from the car plate auctions. Do you have any specific information on it to release today? The second question is for the official of the Shanghai science association. About the promotion of the science education program, I feel that students at middle schools are heavily burdened with academic work. Has the program been designed to stimulate their interest in science by catering to different age groups? Thank you.

Chen Qiwei: The fund’s use has been discussed at the city legislature and political advisory body sessions and it has been covered in news reports recently. I can tell you some figures. The funds have been deposited in a special treasury account and used after being approved following certain procedures. In April 2007, city authorities reported to the supervision team of the city committee of the CPPCC on the car plate auctions over the past years and the spending of the funds as of December 2006. The local media have reported on that. Today, I’ll talk about how the fund from the auctions in 2007 have been used. The auctions in the year brought in 3.516 billion yuan, including 3.445 billion yuan from 72,678 plates for private cars, 71 million yuan from 1,507 plates for corporate cars. Another 74 million yuan from auctions of the“motorcycle to car”plates were submitted to the city treasury, bringing the total to 3.59 billion yuan. A total of 3.3 billion yuan was spent in the year on construction of urban public transport infrastructure, including 800 million yuan on subway construction, 1 billion yuan on the Middle Ring Road construction and 1.5 billion yuan on road renovation.
In addition, 4,583“motorcycle to car”plates were auctioned in the year, bringing in 208 million yuan. Of the fund, 74 million yuan from corporate bidders was submitted to city treasury as required by city rules, and the rest was returned to those trusters.
The city will further perfect the measures on management of the auction proceeds to ensure the policy of“priorities to bus”that aims to cut the citizens’traveling cost by bus. Meanwhile, auditing of the fund will be strengthened and income and expenses will be published on a regular basis in line with legal procedures.

Yu Tao: I’ll answer the question (on science education). Your question is down to the very essence, namely, how to judge whether the science quality of the youngsters has been improved. Given that different age groups demand different science education programs, the pilot program and the 2008-2012 plan were designed with due attention to the variations. For example, we break the program into two sections: one targets the middle and high school students. This section intends to train the youngsters’innovation spirit and hands-on skills in addition to cultivating their interest in technology. That’s to say, it not only makes them interested but also ready to think, speak and act. So the program for middle and high schools features innovation spirit and hands-on skills.
Then how will the program benefit children at the kindergartens and primary schools? First, we train the teachers in setting the goals, plans and systematic science courses to make sure the students have hands-on practice in class while doing research and keeping notes. We believe that the“learn while doing”program will offer the younger children an opportunity and we hope that they can take the opportunity to get hands on and participate as much as possible to develop their ability in researching, thinking and analyzing.
Of course, we don’t intend the program to improve the ratio of enrollment into universities, but to reach the following two goals, please keep it in mind, one, to improve markedly the youngsters’interest in science, and two, train their innovative ability and hands-on ability and make more youngsters ready to think, speak and do.

4. People’s Daily: I’m from the People’s Daily, and I have two questions. The first question is for Mr Yin about the textbook recycling. This year the Ministry of Education said the recycling of textbooks should be encouraged. Before that, Shanghai’s pilot programs (on textbook recycling) have been recognized by society, however, there were controversial voices and difficulties. Could you tell us what the Education Commission thinks of it? Could you tell us something about your measures on management of the textbooks and implementation of the rules? The second question is for Mr Yu. You said just now that the city plans to develop 50 cases of“learn while doing.”As I know, development of“learn while doing”cases at pilot schools in Shanghai has experienced setbacks, and the teachers found it hard to promote the program. Could you update us on the“learn while doing”program and tell us what new plans you have to go on with the case development? Thank you.

Yin Houqing: Thank you for your concern over the issue of textbook recycling. The use of recycled textbooks is in line with the state policy on saving energy and reducing pollutants. About the textbooks recycling, the Law on Compulsory Education says,“The state encourages the use of recycled textbooks.”This stipulation will help protect resources and especially raise the students’awareness of resources and environment protection. So we fully support the policy and encourage teachers and students to use recycled textbooks. After all, textbook recycling faces many problems to fix as it is still in the trial period. There are in fact many problems involved in the seemingly trivial issue. First is the students’habit of using the textbook. In the past, they felt free to draw and doodle on the pages as they owned the textbooks. For recycled textbooks, they can no longer do that or keep notes on the pages. So this will force them to change their habit of using the textbooks. Second is the management of the textbooks. The recycling of the textbooks demands a series of rules for registering, distributing, recalling, counting, disinfecting, keeping and replenishing. But the schools have never tried any of these and have no ideas how to do it. Third is the concerns from parents. The parents are worried that the textbooks may be unhygienic and will harm their children’s health. So they would rather buy new textbooks. Fourth is the cycle of the recycling. What is the proper cycle? It depends on the quality of the textbooks, sure, and this has to be studied further. To tackle these problems, the education commission has designated some courses to be involved in the recycling program because textbooks for these courses are not used so often. By changing the students’habit of using textbooks, we hope to get the schools used to the rules on recycled textbooks and improve the management and ensure smooth implementation of the recycled textbook policy. I’m afraid it will take several years to get the job done. For the time being, we hope that the schools will create favorable conditions and make good arrangement to make the students use the recycled textbooks in a more convenient way. We especially hope that parents and society can understand and support the program and join up in developing the students’habit of taking good care of textbooks and prolonging the life of recycled textbooks. The work needs the support from everyone.

Yu Tao: I’ll answer the question about“learn while doing.”True as you said that the pilot program has hit setbacks in promoting some of the lesson plans. The difficulty reflects one problem: It is not well in the hands of the scientists and teachers to get the program going smoothly, and there is a big gap between the designed cases and the actual teaching and students’response in class. That’s why the teachers cannot find a ready answer to varied questions from students in class even though the lesson plans have been discussed between the scientists and teachers from kindergartens and primary schools and undergone revisions and adjustment after research. So in the next five years when the program is first tried, we plan to develop 50 good lesson cases. Then how to make these lesson plans acceptable to kindergarten children and how to make a lesson plan outstanding? First, we’ll step up the training of the teachers to make their science quality good enough to teach the“learn while doing”cases. Second, the cases designed by scientists and educators must be revised repeatedly and tried at some schools to get a real feel of the students response and get well prepared for promotion of the cases to more schools.
The youngsters’questions are not necessarily in the“10,000 Why’s,”or listed by experts of scientific research, but are often unexpected. We’ll collect questions raised by youngsters and teachers at kindergartens and primary schools and ask some scientists to answer them.
Meanwhile, we are going to learn from good examples in the world in the youngsters science education, especially for those lower age groups such as students at kindergartens and primary schools. For example, the United States and France were the first countries to promote the“learn while doing”program. Mr Yin was among Shanghai’s, or China’s, first group of scholars that did the“learn while doing”research in France. So we hope to introduce the international good experience and approaches to Shanghai to bridge the gap in the lower age science education, improve our speed and avoid detours. Thank you.

Chen Qiwei: Because we talked so much, I’d like to give extra time for three more reporters.

Phoenix TV: I’m from Phoenix TV. I have a question for Mr Yin. We noticed that Shanghai has witnessed a continuous baby boom over the past few years, calling for more teachers not only at primary schools but also some kindergartens. The baby boom might well continue way into 2015, so do you have any emergency plans to handle the shortage of teachers? And has the baby boom already brought about serious shortage of teachers at kindergartens or nursery schools? Thank you.

Yin Houqing: Shanghai’s population and family planning agency has published figures on the number of newborn babies, including that for 2007 and forecast for future. The figures match the prediction of the city education authorities. The population growth has a special character in Shanghai, as you can understand. There was a baby boom from 1980 to 1989, and these children now have reached the child-bearing ages, creating another baby boom. Statistics show that 166,000 babies were born in the city in 2007, far more than the annual figures in the ninth Five-Year and tenth Five-Year periods. And by 2011, there will be 470,000 babies aged three to six, up 57% over 2006. That means that by 2011, 157 percent more children will enter preschools than in 2006. The government has noticed it and plans to build more kindergartens this year. More than 50 kindergartens will be built in the densely populated areas where the downtown meets the suburbs to handle a big influx of children. Meanwhile, education administrators are working on plans to recruit kindergarten teachers from society to handle the baby boom that may last eight to nine years. We’re analyzing the growing need for more kindergarten teachers in future and studying plans for training kindergarten teachers at universities.

6. Bloomberg News: I’m Bloomberg News. It is said that the city government recently approved a demonstration against the Maglev on Saturday. It is true? And do you have any updates on the progress of the Maglev projects?

Chen Qiwei: I suggest you check with the public security department for the first question. For the second question, it is still in the stage of collecting public opinions, and city authorities will sort and analyze opinions and suggestions put forward by the public and organize experts to study and assess them. After the assessment, more public opinions will be collected.

7. Jiefang Daily: I’m from Jiefang Daily. My question is for the government spokesman. Traffic jams have intensified on some downtown roads since the beginning of this week because of the closure of the Bund exit. What diversion measures has the traffic police department taken to solve it? Do you have any suggestions for the public on traveling around? Thank you.

Chen Qiwei: The public has been concerned about the traffic jams and diversion measures since the renovation work started at the Bund. As required by the comprehensive traffic renovation projects at the Bund, the Yan’an Road Elevated Road (between Fujian Road and the Bund) was closed since February 23, triggering the closure of the entrance and exit at the Bund and the Jiangxi Road entrance.
Monitoring over the past few days shows that the traffic is generally normal on roads near the Bund, without long-time jams. The queues at the Fujian Road entrance and nearby streets during morning and evening rush hours were longer and the jamming appeared earlier than usual, but they were manageable and acceptable. The traffic condition changes in central Huangpu District and on roads in Hongkou and Zhabei districts during morning and evening rush hours kind of matched predictions.
At present, the city’s traffic police, urban administration and engineering departments have taken the following steps to solve the traffic jams:
One, they work on detailed traffic management plans. Before the road work started, the traffic police department came up with an emergency plan and put more officers on standby to handle the jamming in possible areas. Meanwhile, traffic police, urban administration and engineering departments put up helpful information on road signs and electronic bulletin boards on the elevated roads and along streets to divert the traffic, considerably alleviating the traffic jams and improving the order and traffic capacity.
Two, the frontline traffic management was bolstered. To handle the mounting holdup of traffic on the west-to-east section of the Yan’an Road Elevated Road (between Hongxu Road and Fujian Road) and the east-to-west section (between Zhongshan Road E1 and Fujian Road), traffic police readjusted the intervals of red lights at some crossings and sent more officers to enhance diversion. They also sent more observers to get information on traffic on some major roads before redesigning some traffic signs and readjusting red light intervals.
Three, traffic diversion measures were adjusted timely. The rush hour traffic on the first day following the road closure was generally better than expected. However, some drivers need more time to get used to it, traffic volume and locations of jams are still volatile, and the general traffic condition is not stable either, so the diversion measures need to be further improved in response to actual conditions. Traffic police will continue to keep a close eye on the traffic changes, including possible new jamming areas. Meanwhile, they will improve traffic management facilities like the signal lights and road signs, to alleviate the jamming and distribute the traffic flow. In addition, as required by the general construction plan, the Waibaidu Bridge will be closed this Saturday, March 1, to prepare for relocating it for repair work. Traffic in the area will have new changes, and traffic police will act accordingly when the construction is underway to ensure a smooth traffic flow.
In the near future, traffic police will take corresponding steps to handle the traffic flow, so it is hoped that the public will pay attention to the media reports. At the same time, as many road construction projects are under way, the citizens are also advised to pay more attention to the road signs and safety facilities, listen to the traffic police officers and traffic assistants. They are also advised to get on the road as early as possible, choose a reasonable route before hand and allow for enough time on the road, and be patient in case of traffic jams. Meanwhile, we thank the citizens for their understanding and support over the renovation projects.

That’s all for today’s press conference. Thank you.