A teacher at Zhiquan Primary School, a school in north Beijing for the children of migrant workers, instructs students on Thursday, September 2, 2010. [Photo: Beijing News]

The Beijing municipal government plans to ensure and further improve compulsory education for the children of migrant workers, the "Beijing News" reports.

Compulsory education for children of migrant workers has been included in a section on financial protection in the "Outline of Beijing's Plan for Medium and Long-term Education Reform and Development" issued on Thursday.

The outline for the first time specified financial support for migrant children's compulsory education, said Xian Lianping, spokesman of the local education committee.

Public schools will play a dominant role in enrolling migrant children, according to the outline.

The plan also emphasizes cultivating the children's psychological development and lifestyles so as to help them get used to the new learning and living environment more quickly.

But the outline does not mention high school education for the children of migrant workers, which was included in a draft document issued last October.

The issue of educating migrant children in Beijing has drawn widespread attention as the number of migrant workers in the capital has increased dramatically in recent years.