China's demand for teachers in its nine-year compulsory education is expected to drop by 1 million or 12 percent from the figure in 2008, according to a report released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Tuesday.

The report listed a sharp drop in the number of students receiving compulsory education in primary and junior high schools at that time as a major reason for the prediction.

By 2020, the number of students receiving compulsory education in primary and junior high schools could decrease by more than 18 million, or about 11 percent from the figure in 2008, the report said.

Junior high students is expected to number 41.57 million in 2020, a 15 percent drop from 2008, while primary students could number 93.5 million.

China's nine-year compulsory education covers primary and junior high school, according to the Law on Compulsory Education.

China's family planning policy, which was formulated in the early 1970s, encourages late marriages and late childbearing, and limits most urban couples to one child and most rural couples to two children.

In the first half of the 21st century, China will witness a peak in its total population, working-age population, and elderly population, according to the National Population and Family Planning Commission.

One third of China's total population, about 437 million people, will be citizens over 60 years old in 2050, while its population of 16 to 60-year-olds will hit the peak of 990 million in 2016, government figures showed.

(Xinhua News Agency September 9, 2009)