An education reform initiative that the Politburo, the top decision-making body of the Communist Party of China, approved on Monday will go a long way in ensuring social progress in the coming years.

By pledging to increase public expenditure on education and promote fair distribution of educational resources, the Medium- and Long-term National Educational Reform and Development Plan (2010-20) has laid a solid foundation for China to develop into a powerhouse of human capital.

The huge demographic dividend that the nation enjoys has contributed mightily to making the Chinese economy stronger over the past three decades. However, its rapidly aging population means China will no longer be able to rely on ample supply of cheap young labor for economic growth.

Clearly, policymakers have realized that the revamp will sustain growth by bettering education and improving work force quality. This initiative is also a laudable first-step to streamline more public funds into the education sector.

According to the plan, government investment will increase steadily, with the ratio of education expenditure to gross domestic product touching 4 percent by 2012. The ratio stood at 3.48 percent in 2008.

Yet, compared with the average international level of 4.5 percent, such spending increase on education does not seem ambitious enough, and more needs to be done in this regard.

Concrete efforts are badly needed to shore up a sector that has long suffered from funding shortages and development mismatch between rural and urban areas.