Minister for Education Chen Baosheng said that the government will be working with other agencies to remove toxic synthetic running tracks in primary and middle schools.
The toxic tracks had caused major health problems to students in Beijing and Shanghai and in the provinces of Hebei and Jiangsu. The running tracks are to blame for students who have suffered vomiting, nosebleeds and skin rashes.
The minister said in a news conference that schools have been approving contracts in low amounts because other bids were too high. The quality of the tracks was then compromised.
"Some schools are even building running tracks under the standards of more than two decades ago," he said.
"There are also problems with the bidding process," he added.
The ministry said that they will release new bidding guidelines to prevent unscrupulous contractors from supplying substandard materials.
As the ministry works on improving the bidding process, they also intend to fight bullying in schools to improve students' health.
"But school bullying is not uprooted yet. More efforts are needed," Chen said.
Other government officials like Zheng Huiqiang agreed. Zheng is a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and vice-chairman of the China Democratic League's Central Executive Committee.
He said, "We should avoid exaggerating the problem of school bullying, but we cannot ignore the damage it does to children's development and to social order."
Last year, a video of a 12-year-old student at Zhongguancun Second Primary School where he was kicked in the back went viral.
The mother of the boy posted the video on Weibo to make others aware of the extent of bullying in the country.
The boy was a constant target of bullies and other students would throw feces and garbage on him. He was later diagnosed with stress disorder and transferred to another school.