China's education authorities have banned employment of new substitute teachers, but denied a deadline for dismissing those still at work.

"Governments at all levels must ensure the inflow of qualified teachers and prohibit any school from taking on more substitute teachers," said Lu Yugang, deputy director of the personnel department of the Ministry of Education.

Longtime employment of substitute teachers would not only impair the interests of students but also be unfair for the teachers as they are usually low paid, Lu said.

However, the role of substitute teachers played and the contribution they made should not be forgotten, Lu said. "We cannot just tell them to leave the school and go home."

Discussions about the future of substitute teachers have been featured prominently in newspapers and on websites in recent days, as it was reported all the substitute teachers would be dismissed in 2010.

Substitute teachers are more often seen in poor places, mostly rural villages, as local governments could not afford to employ enough licensed teachers.

By the end of 2008, China had about 311,000 substitute teachers, according to the ministry.

Lu said the substitute teachers qualified for the job should be given opportunity to be formally recruited while those who were dismissed should be compensated.

In recent years, substitute teachers have been gradually replaced by graduates from normal universities as the government invested more in the education in rural areas.