Competitive edge of labor lies in quality

A teacher teaches two children at the Bowang Liuyou Kindergarten in Urumqi city, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. [Photo/uetd.gov.cn]

SPEAKING TO reporters on Saturday, Wang Peian, vice-minister of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, said the two-child policy is showing "notable results", with the fertility rate expected to rise over the next few years. Gmw.cn commented on Monday:

The full liberalization of the family planning policy to allow all couples to have two children is for the benefit of the whole country, but it seems there is a general feeling that the policy needs to be accompanied by further welfare or benefits to encourage couples to have a second child, due to the cost of raising children.

Although high-income families have adequate resources for raising children, they are also in need of conditions for children to receive good-quality education.

China's future demographic dividend requires strengthening the quality of labor rather than merely increasing the size of the labor force. China is now competing on quality not quantity. And the quality of the work force depends on the quality of education they receive.

So, now the need is not only to encourage more couples to have a second child but also to ensure today's children are ready to be part of the higher quality labor force that will be required to compete in the future.