The State Council, or Cabinet, on Thursday morning approved a draft blueprint for national education reform and development.

At a cabinet meeting presided over by Premier Wen Jiabao, State Councilors and members of the national science-technology and education leading group deliberated over the Draft Blueprint for Medium and Long-term National Educational Reform and Development.

A statement released after by the cabinet said that the draft blueprint for education reform set a strategic objective for Chinese education development for the next ten years.

The draft had responded to questions and complaints from the public, and would promote innovative measures in the education reform, the statement said.

The Ministry of Education (MOE) collected public feedback after publicizing the education reform plan.

When public submissions closed at the end of March, the MOE had received 27,855 items, said a statement on the ministry's website.

Of the total, 8,317 came in the form of e-mails, 1,064 in letters, and the remainder in posts on the message board on the website.

The State Council's statement said to openly seek public opinions was good practice which would benefit both the government's decision-making and the people's interests.

The draft blueprint for 2010 to 2020 aims to extend education opportunities and raise educational quality as strategic goals.

(Xinhua News Agency April 16, 2010)