Every morning for the past 22 years, Wang Yue'e, a primary school teacher in Yangxin county, Hubei province, paddles her boat from one isle to another, picking up students on her way to school.

She heads for Fuzhuang, one of more than a thousand isles that dot the reservoir region.

So it was only fitting that at a press conference on Friday morning, Minister of Education Zhou Ji turned to the newly elected member of the National People's Congress, sitting next to him, for the answer to the question of how rural education has improved over recent years.

"When I first became a teacher in 1986, the school was housed in a deserted temple," Wang said.

"I remember we had four students scattered among three grades.

"Now, the number of students is 400. We have not only a brand-new building for classes, but also a dormitory and a canteen.

"Most of the changes have taken place in the past three years."

Wang spoke not just for herself, but also for all the teachers and students who have witnessed such change since the government enforced free compulsory education in rural areas in 2006.

The first group of beneficiaries was mainly rural students in the country's vast, economically underdeveloped west. In 2006, school tuition and various other "incidental" fees were exempted for them. Last year, free education was completely extended to all students in the country's rural area.

Also present at Friday's press conference was Bai Xiuhua, a secondary school headmistress from Qinghai province, one of the country's poorest regions.