205to address both the supply and demand side constraints. Only then will the ben-
efits of knowledge and skill that come with completing nine years of imaginative,
attractive and engaging education be shared by all Chinese children. Sustainability,
the theme of the new U.N development goals, challenges educational development
over the next decade to find ways of ensuring the gains of the past are not lost, that
universalization of basic education does finally reach out to the most marginal-
ised, and that increasingly what is taught and what is learned serves the purpose of
endowing future generations with more capability at sustainable costs.
References
Research Centre on Educational Inspection and Evaluation of Central Institute of Education
Research. (2010). Balanced development of compulsory education 2010 report. Beijing:
Educational Science Publishing House.
Task Force. (2005). Narrowing the gap, a key issue in China’s educational policy. Beijing:
People’s Education Press.
Zhang, X. W., & Zou, F. P. (2010). Reflections on balanced development of compulsory educa-
tion. Theoretical Guide, 4 , 38–39.
9.3 Growing Needs to Address Inequalities