The government will explore ways to pay for substitute teachers in rural areas to solve education issues in the countryside, Premier Li Keqiang said on March 6 while joining the discussion with deputies from East China’s Shandong province to the fourth session of the 12th National People’s Congress.

Several deputies at the meeting said rural areas cannot keep talented teachers.

Education is the fundamental condition to help rural areas out of poverty, said the Premier.

The issue of substitute teachers is the result of increasing education demand, so this problem must be solved, he added.