HANGZHOU, March 18 (Xinhua) -- The educational department in east China's Zhejiang Province plans to release an online education assistance program for primary and middle schools in urban and rural areas to bridge the education disparity.

The provincial educational department will introduce live streaming classes and online video courses of quality urban schools to their paired counterparts in rural areas.

Teachers from the paired schools will also prepare lessons together and help correct and mark the homework of students.

According to the agency, 1,000 tailored courses, mostly online videos, will be designed by quality schools in urban areas to help improve the weak subjects of the less-competitive schools.

In 2019, the agency aims to promote the assistance program among 1,000 primary and middle schools in urban and rural areas.

According to the Ministry of Education, China will launch a nationwide campaign to promote online learning. A total of 10 million teachers and students will be encouraged to register with online learning platforms this year.