BEIJING -- An education supervising office under China's Ministry of Education has issued a circular, urging the implementation of measures and policies to boost the income of teachers in compulsory education schools.

A round of inspection and guidance work will be launched to check local work progress in meeting a previously set goal scheduled to be achieved by the end of the year, which promised that the average salaries of teachers in compulsory education schools shall be no lower than the average salaries of civil servants in the same region, according to the circular.

Both local self-checks and national inspection will be carried out, and regions with serious problems will be held accountable, the circular said.

China's nine-year free compulsory education system covers primary school and junior middle school.