BEIJING - CHINA'S legislature has removed the country's unpopular education minister amid a corruption scandal in a city he used to oversee and widespread public dissatisfaction with the education system.

The executive committee of the national legislature dismissed Zhou Ji on Saturday at the end of a routine meeting and promoted a deputy education minister to replace him. In announcing the change late on Saturday, the official Xinhua News Agency gave no reason but said Mr Zhou 'will get a new appointment.'

At 63, the American-educated Zhou was two years short of retirement and thus an unlikely candidate for a job change.

The surprise move was the latest shift to roil a public education system that Chinese traditionally idealize as a fair pathway to advancement but that has been filled with problems - from chronic underfunding at primary and secondary levels to poor quality higher education.

Though many of the ills predate

Yuan Guiren was named as Mr Zhou's replacement, Xinhua said. -- AP