The rural-urban education gap has persisted in China for decades.

Providing a good education to all children, regardless of where they live, has been on the central government's agenda for years.

While kids in cities like Beijing and Shanghai are practicing the piano or learning English, children in poor areas are often studying in shabby rooms as an undereducated teacher presides over every class.

Providing a good education to all children, regardless of where they live, has been on the central government's agenda for years. Lately there have been signs of improvement.

Andreas Schleicher, a special adviser on education for the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, has recently visited Tengchong County in a remote area of Yunnan Province. He visited Qiao Tou Lian He elementary school and says he was impressed by the improving standards of basic education.

In an essay written for BBC Online, he says: "In this poor neighborhood of simple houses and farmland, it is the school rather than the shopping center that has the cleanest and most impressive building. In terms of standards, the mathematics classes seem to be at least at the same level you would see in a European classroom."

From his perspective, it is surprising to see such standards in such an impoverished place. But the reality is that after years of increasing investment in education, standards are slowly improving.