Shanghai will continue to develop community education and will carry out a full-scale effort to build itself into "a city of learning", in which citizens widely and actively participate in learning knowledge and skills, Mayor Chen Liangyu said in his annual government work report to the first plenary meeting of the 12th Shanghai People's Congress Sunday.

Steps will be taken in four main areas this year, officials said, namely improving community schools, developing community education in Shanghai's villages, continuing trail efforts to create "families of learning", and fully using community education to improve the moral education of primary and high school students and create a positive social environment for development.

Shanghai has opened 200 community schools of various kinds so far throughout all downtown districts and city suburbs.
 
Three districts in Shanghai, Zhabei in central downtown, Jiading in northwestern Shanghai and Pudong, have been designated "national experimental areas for community education" by the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Officials said some 30 to 40 percent of the institutions and families in each of the three districts will become models of learning by 2005, helping to build a foundation for the "city of learning".

Zhabei District has opened all its adult and vocational schools, more than 70 percent of its primary and high schools and more than 80 institutions to community residents to increase their access to educational resources and learning opportunities. It opened a 260-million-yuan Zhabei Community School, which has become a district community education center.

Jiading District has held community education festivals and promotions to boost community education and foster families of learning.

Congress deputies said in response to the mayor's report that local community schools have attracted more and more attention from city residents, and have become important educational resources.

When Jing'an District opened its first community schools six years ago, officials worried that no residents would use them, said Chen Zhenhong from Jing'an. However, now they worry that they can't enlarge the school fast enough because there are so many students in it, he said.

Resident's interests keep on changing, he said. At first they only wanted courses like opera and dancing. Later they became interested in computers and English, and now courses on politics and current affairs are very popular.