BEIJING, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- On Tuesday, Chinese lawmakers reviewed a State Council report on the coordinated development of compulsory education in urban and rural areas, giving particular attention to rural areas.

Entrusted by the State Council, the Minister of Education Chen Baosheng introduced the report to legislators at the National People's Congress Standing Committee session scheduled from Monday to Friday.

Speaking of the measures taken by authorities to bridge the gap between urban and rural areas, Chen said they allocated 17.9 billion yuan (about 2.63 billion U.S. dollars) to provide 16.04 million students from poor families with living allowances in 2017, adding that the authorities earmarked 90 percent of the money for students from the less-developed central and western regions.

A total of 170,000 university graduates will be selected to work in the rural schools from 2017 to 2018, according to the report.

Noting that unbalanced and inadequate allocation of education resources remain prominent, the report called on governments at various levels to bear due responsibilities on compulsory education management and give more support to poverty-stricken areas.

Compulsory education refers to primary and junior middle school education in China.