Chinese Research Perspectives on Educational Development, Volume 4 9789004386204, 9004386203, 9789004389021, 9004389024

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Chinese Research Perspectives on Educational Development Volume 4

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Chinese Research Perspectives on Educational Development International Advisory Board Chen Yangbin, La Trobe University Gregory P. Fairbrother, The Hong Kong Institute of Education Gerard Postiglione, University of Hong Kong

VOLUME 4

The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/cred

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Chinese Research Perspectives on Educational Development Volume 4

Chief Editor

YANG Dongping Deputy Editors

YANG Min and HUANG Shengli

LEIDEN | BOSTON

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This book is the result of a co-publication agreement between Social Sciences Academic Press and Koninklijke Brill NV. These articles were selected and translated into English from the original 《中国教育发展报告   (2015)》(Zhongguo jiaoyu fazhan baogao 2015).

Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download: brill.com/brill-typeface. issn 2212-7488 isbn 978-90-04-38620-4 (hardback) isbn 978-90-04-38902-1 (e-book) Copyright 2019 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Rodopi, Brill Sense, Hotei Publishing, mentis Verlag, Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh and Wilhelm Fink Verlag. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. This book is printed on acid-free paper and produced in a sustainable manner.

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Contents List of Figures and Tables vii 1 Deepen Educational Reform and Vigorously Promote Educational Equity 1 Yang Dongping 2 College Entrance Examination (Gaokao) (高考) Reform: Its Butterfly Effect on China’s Education as a Whole 20 Wen Dongmao and Liu Yubo 3 Explore the Chinese Path of Secondary Vocational Education 34 Tian Zhilei, Wang Rong, and Liu Mingxing 4 What Kind of Senior Secondary Education Does China Need? 49 Ke Jin, Shi Yaojiang, Zhang Linxiu and Scott Douglas Rozelle 5 The Policy of the Transformation of Local Colleges and Universities: Evaluations and Reflections 60 Tao Dongmei 6 The Difficult Transformation of Independent Colleges 77 Li Jianping 7 Reform of Policies on “Admission to Junior High Schools” in Beijing 89 Liu Jing 8 Special Education Development Plan: Promote the Overall Development of Special Education 105 Peng Xiaguang 9 Ensure Equal Access to Quality Preschool Education 122 Zhang Feng and Zhao Yuchi 10 “International Oriented Classes” of Senior High Schools: Present Situation, Challenges, and Future Directions 139 Wang Ming and Zhang Shanshan

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11 Influences of Household Registration Reform on the Education for Children of Peasant Migrants 149 Zhao Han and Zhou Tian 12 An Investigation of the Current Development of School-Age Children in Poverty-Stricken Areas 162 Qin Hongyu 13 Report on Teachers’ Conditions in Rural Small-scale Schools (农村小规模学校) 182 Zhang Xu A  ppendix 1: Statistical Communiqué on National Education Development in 2013 193 Appendix 2: Top 10 Educational Hotspots in 2014 202 Appendix 3: Report on Trends of Overseas Study in 2014 203 Index 211

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Figures and Tables Figures 5.1 5.2 7.1 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 12.6 12.7 12.8 12.9 12.10

Distribution of regular colleges and universities in China, 2013 62 Evolution of the world’s higher education system 74 Timetable for nearby enrolment for compulsory education in key big cities 91 Some sources of income for China’s special education between 2000 and 2011 109 Distribution of students with disabilities in schools between 2003 and 2013 110 Distribution of children with disabilities that have not attended schools in central and western China in 2013 113 Distribution of students with disabilities in schools between 2009 and 2013 117 Increase in the number of kindergartens from 2010 to 2013 126 Number of pupils in kindergartens from 2010 to 2013 127 Number of kindergarten students in different areas 128 Education background of full-time kindergarten teachers in 2010 130 Education background of full-time kindergarten teachers in 2011 131 Education background of full-time kindergarten teachers in 2012 132 A comparison of students’ personality problems in three types of schools 166 A comparison of students’ emotional problems in three types of schools 167 A comparison of students’ behavioral problems in three types of schools 168 A comparison of students’ interpersonal relationships in three types of schools 169 A comparison of students’ “learning adaptability” in three types of schools 170 A comparison of the availability of doctors in school hospitals 172 A comparison of the employment status of school doctors 172 A comparison of classroom conditions in three types of schools 174 A comparison of supporting subjects classroom conditions in three types of schools 175 A comparison of the factors affecting the implementation effects of quality development subjects in three types of schools 178

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Figures and Tables

Tables 5.1 5.2 7.1

7.2 9.1 12.1 12.2 12.3 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 13.6

Distribution of newly-established local colleges and universities by region and type from 1999 to April 2012 64 World classification of higher education institutions and a proposal for the future classification of China’s higher education institutions 75 A summary of the ways of “admission to junior high schools” in the core functional districts and city function expansion districts of Beijing in 2014 96 SWOT analysis of 2014 policies on admission to junior high schools in Beijing 102 The number of newly established kindergartens in various areas from 2010 to 2012 127 The percentage of zero occurrence of getting ill due to having unclean food or beverage or drinking non-boiled water (%) 165 Proportions of low-age boarding students in townships centers, village primary schools, and teaching places in poverty-stricken counties 173 Details of quality development courses 177 Basic information of rural small-scale school teachers 185 Teaching situation of rural small-scale school teachers 187 Daily time arrangement of rural small-scale school teachers 187 Real salary and ideal salary of rural small-scale school teachers 188 Subsistence allowance received by rural small-scale school teachers 189 Transportation and one-way time of rural small-scale school teachers 190

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Chapter 1

Deepen Educational Reform and Vigorously Promote Educational Equity Yang Dongping* Abstract In 2014, China continued to deepen educational reform. The improvements, reform, and innovations of education were reflected through the progress of a series of in-depth and comprehensive reforms, including pilot reform of the college entrance examination system in Shanghai Municipality and Zhejiang Province, the planning and management of modern vocational education system, the innovation of local edu­ cation system based on streamlined administration and decentralization (简政放权), the fundamental education policy breakthrough represented by Beijing, the improve­ ment of schooling conditions and the situation of children in poverty-stricken areas, the transformation of local institutions of higher learning and the new landscape of higher education, as well as the education innovations in the Internet era. Despite this, old problems had not been solved, such as the inadequate education opportunities for children of migrant workers in cities in the process of urbanization, while new problems kept emerging, such as the university research corruption. In the process of deepening reforms and promoting the education governance modernization, it was important to understand the education “new normal” (“新常态”), promote education innovation, and solve the problems of rural education and teachers through system reform.

Keywords comprehensive educational reform – education governance modernization – educational equity

* Yang Dongping 杨东平, Director of 21st Century Education Research Institute and Professor of Beijing Institute of Technology.

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2019 | doi:10.1163/9789004389021_002

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Initiation of Various Educational Reforms

Initiation of College Entrance Examination System Reform: Pilot Reforms in Shanghai and Zhejiang The key to addressing the drawbacks of the “examination-oriented education” (“应试教育”) is to reform the examination and evaluation system, and change the “leadership” role of the college entrance examination system. In 2010, the state formulated the National Education Plan 《教育规划纲要》 ( ), regarding the college entrance examination system as the breakthrough of educational reform. In September, the college entrance examination system reform plan that had been expected for three years was finally published. The plan was entitled the Implementation Opinions on Deepening the Examination Enrollment System Reform 《关于深化考试招生制度改革的实施意见》 ( ). Its core content was to promote educational equity, implement the differentiated examinations for regular institutions of higher learning (普通高校) and vocational schools (职业院校), reform examination subjects, and cancel the separation of pathways into Arts and Sciences in senior high schools. The biggest change in examination subjects was to include senior high school academic performance test into the evaluation of college entrance examination. The total score of college entrance examination was changed into the test results of the three main subjects of college entrance examination, namely, Chinese, Math, and English, plus the results of senior high school academic performance test, which consists of at most three subjects voluntarily chosen by students out of the available six subjects, namely, Ideology & Politics, History, Geography, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology. In other words, a “3+3” model was implemented for the college entrance examination. Besides, the comprehensive quality evaluation results were used as an enrollment reference for institutions of higher learning. The pilot reform will be carried out in Shanghai and Zhejiang in 2017. Other major measures include cancellation of bonus points to college entrance examination result, replacement of independent enrollment and interview by research universities into interview after elimination by college entrance examination, etc. Centered on this reform, the Ministry of Education (教育部) promulgated supporting documents on a series of issues, such as academic performance test in regular senior high schools, implementation of comprehensive quality evaluation of senior high school students, reduction and regulation of the items qualified for bonus points and the scores, as well as improvement and standardization of independent enrollment by institutions of higher learning. The core of the college entrance examination system reform was to replace the mode of enrollment based on total score, of which every point matters, 1.1

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into a comprehensive evaluation and enrollment system characterized by “integration of three considerations” (“三位一体”), namely, unified national examination, senior high school academic performance test, and interview by institutions of higher learning. The new enrollment system characterized by “integration of three considerations” has been implemented in new universities, such as Southern University of Science and Technology (南方科技大学) and New York University Shanghai (上海纽约大学), and has also been implemented on a trial basis in over 20 universities in Zhejiang Province. 1.2 Breakthrough in Higher Educational Reform As a move to deepen comprehensive educational reform, the state identified Peking University (北京大学), Tsinghua University (清华大学), and Shanghai Municipality to undertake the pilot comprehensive educational reform in addition to pilot reform of college entrance examination in Shanghai and Zhejiang. This move was known as pilot reform in “two universities and one municipality.” The Construction Plan of National Education Comprehensive Reform Pilot Area in Shanghai Municipality (2014–2020) (上海市国家教育综合改革试 验区建设方案[2014–2020年]) was approved by the state. The Plan included ten major aspects and in total 52 specific reform measures. In November, the Ministry of Education signed with Shanghai Municipality government the Strategic Cooperation Agreement on Deepening Comprehensive Educational Reform in Shanghai (深化上海教育综合改革战略合作协议). The Ministry of Education verified and published the University Charter ( 《大学章程》 ) for nine universities, including Tsinghua University and Peking University, so as to regulate the relationship between government and schools and that between schools and the society, and to establish a school internal governance structure. In accordance with requirements, all universities shall finish the formulation of the University Charter in 2015. The Comprehensive Reform Plan 《综合改革方案》 ( ) introduced by Peking University and Tsinghua University included a few aspects, such as accelerating the improvement of modern university system with Chinese characteristics, deepening the personnel system reform, innovating talent cultivation mode, perfecting the scientific development mechanism and technology-driven innovation system, reforming social service system and mechanism, advancing reform of the resource management model, and further deepening administrative management reform. The specific measures included implementing de-administration institution building approach, developing academic committee into the organization that performs academic rights, and increasing the autonomy of colleges and departments in university governance. Besides, with a view to improving the teaching quality of undergraduate programs, college

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education was defined as professional education on the basis of general education (通识教育), efforts were made to build core courses of general education, “lecturers in classes with a large number of students and discussions in classes with a small number of students” (“大班讲授, 小班研讨”) were encouraged, and research-oriented study was carried out. In addition, the personnel system reform characterized by management of teachers according to series and employment of teachers according to classification was imitated; the teacher employment system featured by a combination of “pre-employment” (“预聘”) and “tenured employment” (“长聘”) was implemented where preemployed teachers can only become tenured teachers after passing the five-tosix-year period of evaluation. What’s more, the degree-awarding pilot reform was carried out in Tsinghua University, which shall have the power to independently add offices with degree-awarding qualifications, independently design undergraduate programs, second degree programs, and double degree programs, independently examine and approve degrees, as well as design and produce degree certificates. 1.3 Planning of the Modern Vocational Education System Another major move of the breakthrough in higher educational reform was the planning of higher vocational education and transformation of local colleges and universities (本科院校). In March, Mr. Lu Xin, Vice Minister of Education, put forward that efforts shall be made to explore the ways to transform vocational education into college education with over 600 newly established colleges and universities as the key. His proposal attracted widespread attention from society. This idea was expressed as “the road to build application-oriented technical universities with Chinese characteristics” (“中国特色应用技术大学 建设之路”). On June 22, the State Council (国务院) promulgated the Decisions of the State Council on Accelerating the Development of Modern Vocational Education 《国务院关于加快发展现代职业教育的决定》 ( ), explicitly stating that efforts shall be made to guide the transformation of some colleges and universities into application-oriented technical colleges (应用技术型高校), which shall be positioned as vocational colleges. Thus, an integrated modern vocational education system will be formed, consisting of secondary vocational education, junior college education, university education, and postgraduate education. Later, six ministries jointly printed and distributed the Modern Vocational Education System Building Plan (2014–2020) 《现代职业教育体系 ( 建设规划 [2014~2020年]》), putting forward that measures will be taken to establish a dual-track model characterized by implementation of both modern vocational education system and regular higher education system, and to explore the classified management of research-oriented universities (研究型

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高校), application-oriented technical colleges, and higher vocational schools (高等职业学校).

Compared to previous documents, the Decisions boasts a series of new understandings of the development of modern vocational education. For example, it put forward the requirement to “accelerate development,” proposed that development of vocational education shall be “initiated by the government and guided by the market” (“政府推动、市场引导”), and changed the previous wording whereby development of vocational education shall be “dominated by the government” (“政府主导”). Besides, the role of enterprises has shifted from “a major force” (“重要力量”) into “a major school investor” (“重要办学主体作用”). Innovation of Local Education System Based on Streamlined Administration and Decentralization Local governments in various regions have made some new trials in streamlined administration and decentralization as well as improvement of education governance. For example, in the course of the overhaul, Shunde District Government of Foshan City, Guangdong Province (广东省佛山市顺德区) reformed the education management system in light of local conditions. To be specific, it delegated the school management power to villages and towns. Through the combination of streamlined administration, delegation of power, and empowerment, “separation of management, operation, and evaluation” (“管办评分离”) was realized. An open education governance system was basically formed, characterized by instructional management by the government, autonomous management by schools, and self-disciplined management by industries, as well as participation of and coordination between multiple parties, including society, communities, public personages, enterprises, parents, and alumni. All these have added vigor and vitality to school-running endeavors. Centered on the basic thought of streamlined administration and decentralization, Zhenjiang Municipal Education Bureau of Jiangsu Province (江苏省镇 江市教育局) made great efforts to streamline various evaluations and examinations. As a result, the number of meetings was reduced, so were the number of assessments, the number of examinations, and the number of comparisonbased appraisals. With these efforts, school principals were able to concentrate on teaching. Through such measures as establishment of modern school system and trial implementation of “pilot school of autonomous management” (“自主管理试点校”) and “selection-based employment of vice school-level cadres” (“副校级干部选聘制”), the autonomy of school principals was broadened. As a result, the initiative of school principals was aroused and their creativity 1.4

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was brought into play. For example, Zhangjiagang City (张家港市) reduced the importance of assessments and comparison-based appraisals and cut down its red tapes (文山会海). To be specific, over the past two years, it canceled 90% of the assessment and evaluation programs in education system, adjusted the frequency of municipal comprehensive education quality evaluation from once a year into once every three years, allowed schools with outstanding schoolrunning achievements not to participate in unified municipal evaluation, and encouraged schools to operate with individualized policies and diversified approaches. Fenhu High-tech District (Lili Town) of Wujiang District, Suzhou City (苏州市吴江区汾湖高新区（黎里镇）) adhered to the education principle characterized by the integration of “government, community, school, and family” and delegated power to adult schools, so as to facilitate the grand development of community education. 2

Improvement, Reform, and Innovation of Basic Education

2.1 Innovation Explorations in Basic Education In 2014, China’s education “got off to a good start” (“开门红”) with Shanghai winning the championship of 2012 PISA Test organized by OECD for the second consecutive time after 2009. PISA refers to the “Program for International Student Assessment” (“国际学生评估项目”). Aimed at testing the academic performance of 15-year-old students by testing their Math, Reading, and Science, PISA has become the “weatherglass” for international competition in the field of basic education. Because of Shanghai’s good performance, “learning from Shanghai” (“向上海学习”) became popular across the globe. In this context, the British Education Chancellor led a delegation to Shanghai to explore the secret of China’s education success and invited Shanghai’s Math teachers to impart their experience in the U.K. Foreign experts held that factors contributing to the success of Shanghai’s basic education are shared in China. To be specific, the high expectations parents and teachers have for children have become a strong learning incentive. Other factors that have played a part include the teaching and research organizations established by governments at all levels, the teaching and research offices set up in schools and collective course preparation system, sound teacher training, and dedication by teachers in addition to their due workload. Some of these practices are hard to implement in Western countries. As a result, some famous schools in China have started to establish branch schools in North America one after another to export China’s successful education model. Despite this, domestic researches are more concerned about another group of “firsts” Shanghai obtained in the

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PISA Test, such as the longest study time and students’ severe lack of interest in study. The “Research on the Practice of Education Model and School Transformation of Regular Senior High Schools” (“普通高中育人模式创新及 学校转型的实践研究”) by Beijing National Day School (北京十一学校) and the “Research on the Themed Teaching Practice of Primary School Chinese” (“小学语文主题教学实践研究”) by Tsinghua University Primary School (清 华附小) won the Outstanding Award and The First Prize of the First Statelevel Teaching Award in Basic Education (首届基础教育国家级教学成果奖) respectively. Their reforms represented the shift from teaching to learning with students as the focus as well as the trend towards individualized and diversified learning through opening diversified courses and integrated courses. Chongqing Xiejiawan Primary School (重庆市谢家湾小学) carried out course integration and integrated over a dozen courses into five “small plum blossom” courses (“小梅花”课程), namely, Math and Practice, Reading and Life, Science and Technology, Sports and Health, as well as Art and Aesthetics, which yielded good results. In the meantime, the number of ancient poems was reduced and the number of units in textbooks was also cut down in the new textbooks for Grade One primary school students in Shanghai Municipality, generating heated debates in society. In November, the Ministry of Education issued a document, calling for carrying out the series of education activities with the theme of “inheritance of traditional Chinese virtues by young people” (“少年传承中华传统 美德”). To be specific, such forms as recitals of classics and themed speeches were adopted to guide students to learn and understand the fine traditional Chinese culture, enhance the sense of national pride, and increase their confidence in Chinese culture. It was put forward in the National Primary School Sports Work Conference (全国小学体育工作会议) that a medium and longterm development plan should be formulated, which regards school football as a key program of school sports in over 20,000 schools within three years. Beijing Municipality Addressed the Difficulty for Primary School Graduates to Choose Junior High Schools through Determined Reform In accordance with the Memorandum《备忘录》 ( ) signed between the Ministry of Education and various provinces and cities after the promulgation of the National Education Plan, balanced development in compulsory education shall be achieved in 2015. Thus, 2014 is a critical year. At the beginning of this year, the Ministry of Education issued the Implementation Opinions on Making Further Efforts to Replace the Examination-based Enrollment of Junior High Schools with 2.2

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Nearby Enrollment《关于进一步做好小升初免试就近入学工作的实施意见》 ( ) and the Notice on Making Further Efforts to Replace the Examination-based Enrollment of Compulsory Education with Nearby Enrollment in Key Big Cities ( 《关于进一步做好重点大城市义务教育免试就近入学工作的通知》 ), urging 19 big cities, including Beijing and Tianjin, to take actions as soon as possible. The biggest highlight of 2014 was that the Beijing Municipal Education Committee (北京市教委), with lawful administration and education governance, cured the long-standing headache (老大难问题) of the chaotic situation where primary school graduates choose junior high schools without standard reference criteria. By establishing the two electronic platforms, namely, “electronic enrollment status” (“电子学籍”) and “unified enrollment service system” (“统一入学服务系统”), Beijing Municipality took various measures to standardize enrollment, including implementation of the policy of designation of primary schools for each junior high school (单校划片) and the policy of designation of the same enrollment area for multiple junior high schools (多 校划片), cancellation of the quota for children of the employees of big enterprises that have signed joint-development agreement with junior high schools (共建生), reduction of the proportion of enrolled pupils with special talent (特长生), prohibition of the use of award certificates won in competitions as admission basis, ban of the selection of students through examination and interview in any form, and strict control of “classes provided by training institutions under some public junior high schools or jointly run by public junior high schools and social training institutions” (“坑班”) and “selective admission” (“点招”). Apart from this, it also adopted multiple measures to expand premium education resources and develop new quality schools. To be specific, through a series of “combination blows” (“组合拳”), simultaneous dredging and blocking (疏堵结合), as well as abolishment of certain things and establishment of others (有破有立), it basically realized the cancellation of examinations and nearby enrollment in the compulsory education stage. According to the statistics of Beijing Municipal Education Committee, the proportion of nearby enrollment of primary schools in Beijing Municipality in 2014 was 93.7%, that of nearby enrollment of junior high schools was 76.82%, and that of nearby enrollment of junior high schools in six main districts of Beijing Municipality reached 74.01%. With the determination as strong as “cutting one’s own wrist” (“壮士断腕”), Beijing Municipality became a prominent example of education innovation at local government level by carrying out self-revolution and overcoming difficulties, which once again testified to the feasibility of educational reform by local governments. The key to its success are educators and educator spirit with

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correct values, the courage to shoulder heavy responsibility, sound leadership, and strong capability. Improvement of Schooling Conditions and the Situation of Children in Poverty-stricken Areas The priority and weakness of basic education lie in rural areas. In some poverty-stricken areas and countryside, the schooling conditions are poor, teachers are hard to retain, substitute teachers take up a large percentage, teachers of preschool education and such subjects as English, Music, PE, and Arts are in great demand, and English subject is even absent in some rural primary schools due to a lack of teachers. In light of this, the state has taken a series of measures to improve rural education. At the beginning of this year, the Ministry of Education, the National Development and Reform Commission (国家发展改革委), and the Ministry of Finance (财政部) jointly introduced the Opinions on Improving the Basic Schooling Conditions of Weak Schools at Compulsory Education Stage in Povertystricken Areas in an All-round Way 《全面改善贫困地区义务教育薄弱学校基 ( 本办学条件的意见》 ) (hereafter referred to as “The Plan to Improve the Weak” [“薄改计划”]). In this document, six major tasks are put forward, including the guarantee of basic teaching conditions, improvement of school facilities, sound operation of necessary teaching places (教学点), proper solution to the big class size in county and township schools, advancement of education informatization, and improvement of the quality of teachers. In “The Plan to Improve the Weak,” explicit requirements were put forward on the classrooms, desks and chairs, teaching devices and equipment, and books of weak schools at the compulsory stage as well as on the facilities of boarding schools in poverty-stricken areas.1 In order to ensure the smooth operation of schools, the appropriation for a teaching place with less than 100 people is set to be the same as that for a teaching place with 100 people. “The Plan to Improve the Weak” adopted the measure of “joint sharing of financial cost by, and division of projects between, the Central Government and local governments” (中央 和地方分项目、共同分担). It is estimated that the Central Government will invest around 200 billion Yuan and local governments 400 billion Yuan to make up for the weakness in rural education in three to five years. 2.3

1  China’s poverty-stricken areas include concentrated destitute areas, border areas, and areas inhabited by ethnic groups. In total there are 1,000 counties. Weak compulsory education schools take up 40% of all compulsory education schools in China, and the students in weak compulsory education schools take up 30% of all students in compulsory education schools nationwide.

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Currently, there are around 40 million pupils in concentrated destitute areas (集中连片特困地区) in China. Their health and education level is significantly lower than that of the national average. In November, the State Council approved the National Development Plan for Children in Poverty-stricken Areas ( 《国家贫困地区儿童发展规划》 ), emphasizing that care and support should be given to children of families with financial difficulties in concentrated destitute areas from their birth to the end of compulsory education. Recent priorities include the free screening and free treatment of congenital diseases for newborn babies, improvement of nutrition for infants and babies of families with financial difficulties on a trial basis, establishment of children welfare institutions in counties (cities), tour of obligatory tutorship for preschool education in remote areas on a trial basis, increase of per-student public spending for special education, and distribution of living allowances to teachers in rural areas. After the implementation of the “Three-Year Action Plan of Pre-school Education” (学前教育三年行动计划) from 2011 to 2013, the gross enrollment rate of preschool education had reached 67.5% by the end of 2013. The state decided to implement “Stage II Three-Year Action Plan of Pre-school Education” (“第二期学前教育三年行动计划”) and plans to increase the gross enrollment rate of kindergartens to 75% in three years (by 2016). New Situation of the Education for Children of Migrant Workers in Cities In the course of urbanization, two new marginalized groups have emerged, namely, the children of rural migrant workers who live in cities and the leftbehind children of rural migrant workers, commonly known as “migrant children” (“流动儿童”) and “left-behind children” (“留守儿童”). According to the statistics of 2010 National Population Census (2010年人口普查), the number of migrant children under 17 in China was 35.81 million and that of leftbehind children was 61.0255 million, which took up 37.7% of the total number of children in rural areas. These two groups of children added up to around 100 million. At the end of 2013, the number of migrant children in compulsory education schools in China was 12.7717 million and the number of left-behind children was 21.2675 million, adding up to 34.039 million. In order to provide access to compulsory education to the children of rural migrant workers who live in cities, the state implemented the policy of “relying mainly on local governments and public schools” (“以流入地为主, 以公办学校 为主”的“两为主”政策). According to the statistics published by the Ministry of Education, the percentage of migrant children attending urban public schools 2.4

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was 79.2% in 2011, and it reached 80.4% in 2013.2 That is to say, around 20% of migrant children were not able to receive quality education in public schools. In particular, with the tightened population control in megacities, cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou significantly raised the school admission criteria for migrant children. As a result, many school-age children were denied admission into schools. Some of them had to return to their hometown to attend schools, and some of them remained in cities without attending schools. It should be noticed that the population control of big cities and delivery of access to education to unregistered urban residents are two independent issues of totally different nature. As it is the basic responsibility of the government to ensure access to compulsory education for migrant children in accordance with lawful administration, it is ungrounded to blame migrant population for the poor population control. Such phenomenon reflects that although we are vigorously advancing urbanization, we are still not ready for the urbanization of people. And the education for migrant children, and relevant policies have come to a new critical point after more than a decade of evolution. 2.5 Education Innovation in the Internet Era The most concentrated expression of the education innovation with internet as platform is in the field of education training. The training industry is currently in the stage of “fierce competition” (“火拼”) and transformation. At the beginning of this year, “100 Education” (“100教育”) under YY (Huanju) declared to “overthrow New Oriental English” (颠覆新东方). Traditional education industry, tycoons of the internet industry, and emerging industries are all joining in the competition for the online education market. On average, three new online education companies were established every day. The fierce competition is reflected in the continued emergence of new products by multiple participants. New Oriental English (新东方) is trying to develop online vocational education; Baidu invested in Wanxue Education (万学教育), Chuanke.com (传 课网), and SmartStudy.com (智课网); Alibaba (阿里巴巴) launched its online learning platform entitled “Xuetaobao” (“淘宝同学”); Xueda Education (学 大教育) released its exueda intelligent platform (e学大智能平台); Tencent’s online course distribution platform entitled “Tencent Class” (“腾讯课堂”) was also launched; to name but a few. In the meantime, some training institutions 2  “Sanbuwei jieda zhengfu ruhe wei nongmingong jiejue houguzhiyou 三部委解答政府如 何为农民工解决后顾之忧 [Three Ministries and Commissions Gave Answers to How the Government Should Alleviate the Additional Worries of Migrant Workers],” Policy Research & Exploration (March 2014): first half.

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have started to go bankrupt. As a matter of fact, quite a few training institutions have gone bankrupt, including EngTech International Children English Training Institution (英特国际少儿英语培训机构), Chunteng English (春藤英 语), Manhattan English (曼哈顿英语), and New Dynamic Institute (新动态英 语). Since all of them raised capital before their bankruptcy, they were under the pressure to expand quickly. As a result, they made precocious investments in an effort to claim markets (跑马圈地), which sowed the seeds for their mismanagement later. Some schools reformed teaching model and started to try Flipped Classroom (翻转课堂), according to which lesson preparation is moved to the end of class and concentrated discussions and exchanges are carried out in class so as to improve the functions of in-class teaching. Some schools introduced iPads into classroom, integrated teaching resources, and carried out teaching experiments by utilizing online education resources. For example, YouChange China Social Entrepreneur Foundation (友成企业家基金会) and the High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China (中国人民大学附中) jointly carried out experiments to transmit the lessons of the latter to schools in the rural areas of Inner Mongolia and Shanxi via internet. Such experiment with classrooms in both places is known as “Two-teacher class” (双师课堂). 2.6 “Demographic Dividend” (“人口红利”) of Overseas Education The vicissitudes of the Study Abroad Wave in China continue to attract people’s attention. According to the statistics of the Ministry of Education, China saw a total number of 413.9 thousand students studying abroad in 2013, up by 3.58% compared to the year before. This marked a significant reduction of growth rate after five consecutive years of double-digit growth in recent years. The basic trend is characterized by a decrease of the percentage of postgraduates and a rapid increase of the percentage of undergraduates. The number of Chinese undergraduates studying in the U.S. in the academic year between 2012 and 2013 reached 93,768, taking up 39.8% of all Chinese undergraduates compared to 14.90% in the academic year between 2005–2006. This growth rate is far higher than that of the total number of Chinese students studying in the U.S. Moreover, the number of students attending private junior high schools even had a massive upsurge, reaching 23,795 in the academic year between 2012 and 2013. In comparison, the number was only 65 in the academic year between 2005 and 2006. It can be seen that there is a noticeable trend where the average age of students studying abroad is becoming younger and younger. Due to the large number of applicants in 2014, Chinese students encountered the most difficult season for admission into American institutions of higher learning (美国高校“最难录取季”). What’s worse, the rate of admission

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into renowned universities became lower and lower. For example, only 8.9% applicants were admitted out of the 253,472 applications to Ivy League Colleges & Universities in the U.S. (美国常春藤联盟校). The admission rates of the four renowned universities, namely, Princeton University (普林斯顿大学), Yale University (耶鲁大学), University of Pennsylvania (宾夕法尼亚大学), and Cornell University (康奈尔大学), were the lowest in history. Even the University of California, Berkeley (加州大学伯克利分校) that is much sought after by overseas Chinese students, has seen a decrease of 20% in the enrollment rate of new students. In fact, the growth rate of Chinese students studying abroad has started to decrease. Meanwhile, China has started to enjoy the “demographic dividend” of overseas Chinese students by seeing a surge in the number of overseas students returning to their motherland. In 2000, only 9,121 overseas Chinese students returned to China. The number increased to 353,500 in 2013, only 60,000 less than the number of new Chinese students studying aboard that year. 3

Plan the New Landscape of Higher Education

Research Corruption Led to Accountability in Institutions of Higher Learning Aimed at building world-class universities and developing top disciplines, China’s 39 “Project 985 Universities” (“985高校”) and 100 “Project 211 Universities” (“211高校”) are the leading institutions of higher education, receiving huge support from the Central Government. Since rumor might lead to change of the existing management, it has received widespread support from the society to allocate appropriations to “Project 985 Universities” and “Project 211 Universities” according to their performance evaluation results. This has also led to criticism of the administrative and hierarchical higher education institution management model. In recent years, the proportion of government spending on higher education out of the total government spending on education has been around 30%, whereas this proportion in OECD countries has been only between 20% and 25%. Most of the higher education fund from government has been spent on “Project 985 Universities” and “Project 211 Universities.” According to statistics in 2013, the proportion of government spending on more than 100 institutions of higher learning under the central ministries and commissions (“Project 985 Universities” and “Project 211 Universities”) to the government spending on over 2,000 local regular institutions of higher learning was around 3:7. The huge difference in government 3.1

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spending between schools has resulted in a huge difference in the education quality between different institutions of higher learning and in the competitiveness between graduates from different institutions of higher learning in the labor market. Nevertheless, the output benefits of the huge investment in “Project 985 Universities” are not tangible. Thus, it has become the core concern of the public to change the biased institutional arrangement, carry out performance evaluation in colleges and universities, increase the returns on investment of higher education, and promote equal competition between institutions of higher learning. On October 10, the Ministry of Science and Technology (科技部) circulated a notice of criticism of seven professors of five universities, including Li Ning, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (中国工程院 院士) and professor of China Agricultural University (中国农业大学), for swindling state scientific research funds amounting to 25 million Yuan with false subjects. Of the seven professors, Li Ning, who is known as “a leading figure in research on animal transgene and clone technology in China”, was involved in transferring subject funds to affiliated companies. Besides, there were more than four biotech companies registered under his name with registration capital of 10 million Yuan. According to a source, the state invested over 20 billion Yuan in a lump sum in the research on transgene technology and requires the researchers to spend all of it in two years, which is out of the question. As a result, Li Ning transferred some of the money to his own companies. Prior to this, the Ministry of Education published the “Seven Forbidden Types of Behaviors” (“红七条”) to regulate the professional ethics of teachers of higher education institutions, expressly prohibiting the illegal use of research funds. According to a survey conducted by China Association for Science and Technology (全国科协), government spending on scientific research has been increasing at a rate of 20% each year in recent years, while only 40% of research funds were used on the research project itself. The misuse of research funds and corruption in scientific research have testified to the public’s worry over research-oriented universities. Apparently, to account for research funds invested in institutions of higher learning, it is not enough to just construct teachers’ professional ethics and improve the expense reimbursement system. Instead, efforts should be made to carry out institutional reform in various aspects, including change of the administrative management and group interests, realization of information transparency, implementation of independent academic evaluation, and improvement of the salary system for teachers.

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Transformation of Local Institutions of Higher Learning and the New Landscape of Higher Education Most of the 646 local colleges and universities, which took up 56% of all the colleges and universities in China, were a result of merging and upgrading after college enrollment expansion in 1999. Their development has been hindered by many problems, such as the lack of clear positioning, blind pursuit of research and comprehensive converge, homogeneous programs, and poor market performance. According to the evaluation report on new colleges, only 59.8% of the existing programs and structural adjustment of the 43 sampled colleges and universities are up to standard, and only about 69.8% of these higher education institutions have met the requirements on program construction.3 The employment performance of local colleges and universities lagged behind not only that of “Project 985 Universities” and “Project 211 Universities,” but also that of higher vocational schools. As a result, transformation and development have become a top priority for them. The “transformation of 600 local colleges and universities” (“600所地方高 校转型”) is driven by China’s plan to transform higher education, reform vocational education system, and foster a new higher education landscape. Drawing from the classification model of the world higher education system and in light of the reality of China’s higher education, China’s new higher education landscape is characterized by the transformation of the existing binary model consisting of regular institutions of higher learning and vocational schools into a tripartite model consisting of research-oriented universities, applicationoriented technical colleges, and higher vocational schools. Scholars propose that the minority of “Project 985 Universities” and “Project 211 Universities” be positioned as academic institutions and the majority of colleges and universities be positioned as institutions that lay equal emphasis on both learning and application, the development of majors be prioritized, and the importance of practice underlined. Some local colleges and universities that have been positioned as professional application-oriented institutions should focus on improving education quality. Some application-oriented technical colleges and universities can be transformed into vocational technical schools, which belong to vocational colleges. And the 100 demonstration higher vocational schools can also be developed into vocational colleges. Besides, there can be overlapping in education level and education objective between research colleges 3.2

3  Liu Daocai 刘道彩, “Daxue haiyou remen zhuanye ma 大学还有热门专业吗 [Are There Still Popular Majors in University],” China Youth Daily (2014-4-2).

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and application-oriented technical colleges as well as between applicationoriented technical colleges and vocational technical colleges (职业技术高 校). In other words, hierarchy between different types of colleges should be removed and each type of college should enjoy equal opportunity to develop into world-class higher education institution. The major obstacle to the transformation of local colleges and universities at present is the lack of a clear system, supporting policies, and guiding policies. Besides, the administrative system is also to blame, as the major driving force behind the upgrading of higher education institutions comes from officials’ urge to upgrade the level. 4

Deepen Reform to Advance Education Governance Modernization

The action plans for the reform of the school examination and enrollment systems, comprehensives reform of Peking University and Tsinghua University, comprehensive educational reform of Shanghai Municipality, and vocational educational reform published in 2014 will be implemented at the beginning of 2015. The year 2015 will see tangible results in educational reform. The key to solid advancement of these reforms and avoidance of conducting reform as a mere formality is the improvement and modernization of education governance. 4.1 Understand the Education “New Normal” The new normal of the current education development, namely, the trend of education development in the long term, has three marked characteristics. First, on the whole education has entered the “post-popularization stage.” Since universal access to nine-year compulsory education has been basically achieved, higher education has entered the stage of popularization. Although the inadequacy in higher education is yet to be supplied, the priority has been shifted from satisfaction of basic needs to pursuit of quality education and improvement of education quality. Second, rapid urbanization has led to new situation and new problems. A severe problem is the emergence of two new marginalized groups, namely, migrant children in cities and left-behind children in countryside, in the context of a large mobile population. A holistic institutional framework is needed to meet their needs for education. In rural areas, there have emerged three particularly noticeable types of schools, namely, large-sized schools with classes consisting of a large number of students in cities and townships, countryside boarding schools with a large number of left-behind children, and village primary schools, teaching places, and small-scale schools under rural township center schools. They are faced with different problems that call for different

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solutions. In order to coordinate the rural-urban relations in new situations, it is imperative yet challenging for local education bureaus to not only enable some rural students to attend schools in cities, but also enable access to education for the children of 20%–30% underprivileged families who have difficulties attending schools in cities. Third, the Internet era and learning society have given rise to new education needs. Although on the whole schools are following the traditional “examination-oriented education” system, the new landscape characterized by diverse forms of education has already formed. The learner-oriented philosophy has taken root. There are more and more endeavors and explorations aimed at education innovation in both government-funded schools and private education institutions. “Small and micro schools” (“小微学校”) and kindergartens keep emerging. The society is developing into one that is characterized by individualized, diversified, and life-long learning. In the face of this new normal, there are stark contrasts between ideal and reality, cities and countryside, and enhancement of equality and promotion of innovation in education. Although we have entered the stage of education popularization and the internet environment, evaluation of education quality is still based on examination results. Under the influence of the false idea that “children must not fall behind at the starting line” (“不能输在起跑线上”), schools and other education institutions are constantly raising the requirements for students, which is harmful for their physical and mental health and counter-productive for their imagination and creativity. “Super middle schools” (“超级中学”), which are known as “education factories” (“教育工厂”), “examination concentration camps” (“考试集中营”), are still prevalent. Educational reform centered on the balanced development of both the college entrance examination system and compulsory education needs to be carried out to foster a new education reality, so as to arrive at a shared goal for the future. In order to close the huge rural-urban education gap, we need to continue emphasizing the values of educational equity, meet rural students’ basic needs for education, and make up for the prominent shortages of rural education. Apart from this, we need to reform the examination-oriented education system as soon as possible to cope with the challenges brought about by global education innovation in the era of knowledge-based economy and widespread internet application. The purpose of education innovation, as embodied on the “World Innovation Summit for Education” (WISE) (“世界教育创新峰会”) held in Carter (卡特尔) Center in Atlanta, USA this November, is to enable access to necessary education for the marginalized groups, while improving teenagers’ survival skills in the future society. In other words, education innovation is a means to promoting educational equity and cultivating teenagers’

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creativity. Neither of these two objectives should be overemphasized at the expense of the other, nor should they contradict each other. Instead, they are mutually complementary. Realization of these two objectives calls for reform in two aspects. To be specific, in order to promote educational equity and provide better education for marginalized groups, the state needs to strengthen the government’s sense of responsibility, in particular the financial accountability of the Central Government and provincial governments. As to promoting education innovation, efforts should be made to ease regulations and open up education, so as to foster an enabling environment and nurture the soil that are conducive to cultivation of educators and education innovation. Improve Education Governance System and Promote Education Innovation In the context of the education “new normal,” we need to set a new education ideal, understand what good education is, figure out what education quality we need, and find out how our system and management can adapt to the upcoming learning society. The Decisions approved on the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (十八届三中全会《决定》) put forward the goal to push forward the modernization of state governance capacity and governance system as well as the important task of deepening the comprehensive reform in the field of education. The key is to achieve government transformation, streamline administration and delegate powers (简 政放权), and establish a new education governance structure to coordinate interests between multiple stakeholders. The first step is to delegate powers and transform the ways public services are provided. The old practice where everything is arranged and managed by the government shall be abandoned. Instead, macro management should be carried out; management, operation, and evaluation should be separated; and nongovernmental sectors should be encouraged to run schools through delegated administration, procurement of services, and third-party evaluation. This means further opening up education and liberating education productivity. And it is an important measure to adapt to the education new normal. Nowadays, for most people, good education means individualized, diversified, and selective education. Thus, it is imperative to further open up education and maximize the benefits of streamlined government administration (改革红利) through system innovation. Another aspect of streamlined administration and decentralization is the change of the hierarchical and official-rank-oriented (官本位) administration and delegation of powers to schools. This requires deepening reform of the school-running system of primary and secondary schools to enable schools to 4.2

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operate independently and encourage educators to engage in school running. Besides, the environment and soil for education innovation should be improved to change the education management that focuses mainly on formal education and degree-oriented education. These endeavors combine to make the education system and policies more flexible and open to grassroots innovation in diverse forms following the concept of “inclusive growth” (“包容性增长”). Solve the Problems of Rural Education and Teachers through System Reform At the end of this year, teachers in rural areas of such places as Heilongjiang, Henan, and Jiangxi went on a strike because they were severely underpaid, highlighting the biggest problem of rural education. The long-standing problem of low payment for rural teachers, the low quality of teachers, and high turnover have become the root causes of the underdeveloped rural education. China’s basic education management system has been relying heavily on lower-level government. In 1985, basic education started to be managed by township governments and sub-district administrative offices. In 2001, the management authority was handed over to “county-level government.” Although the rank of the management authority became higher, it was still unrealistic to increase payment for all rural teachers by relying on county-level government given that there were more than 1,000 poverty-stricken counties. The Education Plan 《规划纲要》 ( ) promulgated in 2010 put forward that “overall planning by provincial governments” (“省级统筹”) shall be strengthened so as to enable provincial governments to play a bigger role. However, there was no explicit institutional arrangement. For many years, the various rural education programs carried out in China have been focusing on improvement of education infrastructure. Similarly, “the Program to Improve the Weak” (“薄 改工程”) still focuses on improving schooling conditions without mentioning the payment for rural teachers. Under the new situation of deepening comprehensive social reform and centered on the state financial system reform, efforts shall be made at the strategic level to establish a new education finance system in an innovative manner, redefine the education administrative authority and financial authority for the Central Government and local governments, significantly increase the investment in basic education by the Central Government, and put in place a compulsory education guarantee system that relies mainly on the Central Government and provincial governments, so as to fundamentally increase payment for rural teachers. This is not only a cause that affects people’s livelihood, but also a fundamental measure to bridge the rural-urban development gap and improve the underdeveloped rural education. 4.3

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Chapter 2

College Entrance Examination (Gaokao) (高考) Reform: Its Butterfly Effect on China’s Education as a Whole Wen Dongmao and Liu Yubo* Abstract The Implementation Opinions on Deepening Reforms of the Examination and Enrollment System 《 ( 关于深化招生考试制度改革的实施意见》) promulgated by the State Council and its pilot plans published by Shanghai Municipality and Zhejiang Province outlined the blueprint of China’s new Gaokao (College Entrance Examination), which used to be known as college entrance examination. Gaokao is a baton, and its reform influences China’s education as a whole. How will the new Gaokao guide the reforms of China’s basic education and higher education? What opportunities and challenges will the new Gaokao bring to examinees, teachers, as well as high schools and colleges? This paper will try to analyze the holistic influences of the new Gaokao in the years to come.

Keywords new Gaokao – Gaokao reform – class shifting system (走班制) – enrollment autonomy

* This paper is one of the results of the Research on the Tracking and Evaluation of the Pilot Plan of College Entrance Examination Reform 《高考改革试点方案跟踪与评估研究》 ( ), which is a major Philosophy and Social Sciences research program commissioned by the Ministry of Education in 2014. Program leader: Wen Dongmao. Program approval number: 14JZDW004. Wen Dongmao 文东茅, Professor of Graduate School of Education/Institute of Economics of Education, Peking University (北京大学教育学院/教育经济研究所); Liu Yubo 刘玉波, PhD candidate of the Graduate School of Education, Peking University and Chairman of Xi’an Bodi School (西安博迪学校).

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2019 | doi:10.1163/9789004389021_003

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On September 4, 2014, the State Council promulgated the Implementation Opinions on Deepening Reforms of the Examination and Enrollment System (hereafter referred to as the Implementation Opinions 《实施意见》 [ ]). Later on, Zhejiang and Shanghai respectively formulated the Pilot Plan of Zhejiang Province on Deepening the Comprehensive Reform of College Examination and Enrollment System 《浙江省深化高校考试招生制度综合改革试点方 ( 案》 ) and the Implementation Plans of Shanghai Municipality on Deepening the Comprehensive Reform of College Examination and Enrollment System 《上海市深化高等学校考试招生综合改革实施方案》 ( ). These documents not only sounded the trumpet of the biggest round of Gaokao reform since the resumption of college entrance examination (高考) in 1977, but also mapped out the new blueprint of China’s college enrollment and examination system. According to new blueprint, by 2020, China is expected to have established a modern education examination and enrollment system with Chinese characteristics, and also formed an examination-based enrollment model by which students are recruited on the basis of classification tests (分类考试), comprehensive evaluation, and admission based on diverse criteria.1 The pilot plan of the new Gaokao reform includes many new measures, including cancellation of the division of examinations into liberal-arts subjects and science subjects, implementation of the “3+3” model, organization of two examinations for some subjects, and independent examination for higher vocational schools. In terms of evaluation mechanism, emphasis will be placed on “the scores of college entrance examinations and the scores of academic tests in high school, with due consideration of the comprehensive evaluation,” and the comprehensive evaluation system characterized by “integration of three considerations” will be implemented on a trial basis. As to enrollment, due consideration will be given to “both major and university” while screening students’ applications. In other words, “one application will be simultaneously submitted to multiple universities” (“一档多投”), and the priority of screening applications based on batches will be canceled. Besides, the Implementation Opinions also provided specific suggestions on college independent recruitment, bonus-point system in Gaokao, and distribution of admission quota. Publication of the Gaokao reform plan attracted widespread attention from the whole society. The general public, the press, and experts have all made analysis and predictions of the possible influences of the Gaokao reform. However, most of these discussions 1  State Council 国务院, “Guanyu shenhua zhaosheng kaoshi zhidu gaige de shishi yijian (guofa [2014] 35 hao) 关于深化招生考试制度改革的实施意见 (国发[2014]35号) [Implementation Opinions on Deepening Reforms of the Examination and Enrollment System (Guofa [2014] No. 35)],” (September 4, 2014).

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and analyses only focus on a certain aspect of influences at the expense of the rest. In fact, the Gaokao reform will produce butterfly effect that affects China’s education as a whole. This paper endeavors to give a comprehensive analysis of the multiple implications the new Gaokao is likely to have on China’s education system by taking into consideration the opinions of relevant press as well as the author’s afterthoughts on the discussions and exchanges with the high school principals and heads of the education examination authorities during his four visits to Zhejiang and Shanghai recently. 1

Independent Choice of Examination Subjects and Decision of Applications by Students Will Become a Breakthrough of the Reform

The important guiding thought of the new Gaokao is to increase choices for students and encourage the development of their interest, specialty, and personality. To achieve this end, the new Gaokao has significantly reformed the examination type, examination subjects, and way of examination organization. Because of this, students are provided with a much wider range of choices. First, the choice of examination type. The new Gaokao implements classification test. To be specific, higher vocational schools shall hold their own examinations independent of the examinations for regular institutions of higher learning. Both cultural quality and vocational skills will be evaluated. In this way, students with good vocational skills are provided with a different channel and path of development. It was explicitly put forward in the Implementation Opinions that “the number of students admitted by higher vocational schools through classification test shall take up around 50% of all the newly admitted students in 2015, and further increase to the majority of the newly admitted students in 2017.”2 In other words, the number of students admitted by higher vocational schools through regular college entrance examination will decrease. As a result, high school students will have to decide in advance between two different development paths, namely, vocational education and regular higher education. In the independent enrollment examination held by higher vocational schools in Zhejiang, vocational skills test is further divided

2  State Council 国务院, “Guanyu shenhua zhaosheng kaoshi zhidu gaige de shishi yijian (guofa [2014] 35 hao) 关于深化招生考试制度改革的实施意见 (国发[2014]35号) [Implementation Opinions on Deepening Reforms of the Examination and Enrollment System (Guofa [2014] No. 35)],” (September 4, 2014).

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into 17 categories.3 Students even have to choose what kinds of vocational skills they wish to be tested. Second, the choice of examination subjects. The new Gaokao requires regular institutions of higher learning to abandon the old enrollment practice characterized by the division of examinations into liberal-arts subjects and science subjects (“文理分科”) and adopt the “3+3” system. To be specific, the total score of Gaokao will be made up of the test results of three main subjects of college entrance examination, namely, Chinese, Math, and English, plus the results of academic performance tests of three subjects in senior high school. In Shanghai, the subjects of academic performance tests are three out of the six available choices, namely, Physics, Chemistry, Life Sciences, History, Geology, as well as Ideology and Politics, whereas in Zhejiang, the three subjects are chosen from the seven available ones, namely, Physics, Chemistry, History, Geology, Ideology and Politics, and Technology. That is to say, students in Shanghai and Zhejiang can respectively choose from 20 and 35 examination subject combinations. According to the preliminary preparation survey conducted by Zhejiang Provincial Education Examinations Authority (浙江省 教育考试院), up to 60% of students will choose examination combinations other than “Physics + Chemistry + Biology” and “Politics + History + Geology.”4 It can be seen from this that the elective system of examination subject has satisfied most students’ needs for diverse and individualized combination of examination subjects. Selection of examination subjects is not only relevant to the development of examinees’ ability and interest, but also affects the choice of their majors for college study and even the ranking of their Gaokao scores. It is undoubtedly a critical choice for high school students. Third, choice of examination time and frequency. The new Gaokao will provide students with two chances for English test. According to Zhejiang’s pilot plan, two academic performance tests will be conducted among high school students, covering all subjects.5 This means that the provincial examination 3  Zhejiang Provincial People’s Government 浙江省人民政府, “Zhejiangsheng shenhua gaoxiao kaoshi zhaosheng zhidu zonghe gaige shidian fangan (zhezheng fa [2014] 37 hao) 浙江 省深化高校考试招生制度综合改革试点方案 (浙政发[2014]37号) [Implementation Plans of Shanghai Municipality on Deepening the Comprehensive Reform of College Examination and Enrollment System (Zhezhengfa [2014] No. 37)],” September 9, 2014. 4  Based on the author’s interview with head of Zhejiang Provincial Education Examinations Authority, November 20, 2014. 5  Zhejiang Provincial Education Department 浙江省教育厅, “Zhejiangsheng putong gaozhong xueye shuiping kaoshi shishi banfa 浙江省普通高中学业水平考试实施办法 [Implementation Measures on Academic Performance Tests by Regular Senior High Schools in Zhejiang Province]”; and “Zhejiangsheng putong gaoxiao zhaosheng xuankao kemu kaoshi shishi banfa 浙江省普通高校招生选考科目考试实施办法 [Implementation Measures

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authority will provide students with four chances of academic performance tests for each subject within two years. Students can choose to take part in two of the four tests and select the results of the one with better results. When should students take part in the first test? Should they take part in the second test or not? Such are choices that every examinee has to make. In addition, since comprehensive quality evaluation has been used as an important reference for college enrollment, it has become an inevitable task for examinees to enhance their comprehensive quality and highlight their specialty. This requires students to choose the content, and plan the progress and level of difficulty of learning activities outside the uniform curriculum. 2

The Elective System (选修制) Will Drive All-round Reform of High School Education

Due to the implementation of the elective examination system and considering that different students study different subjects and that they can independently choose examination time and frequency, it will be hard for China’s long-standing universal administrative class system in primary and secondary schools to adapt. As a result, schools are obliged to carry out new forms of teaching so as to complement class teaching in diversified forms and satisfy students’ needs for individualized learning. The most direct influence of the implementation of the elective examination system on senior high schools is the popularization of the class shifting system.6 In other words, in most high schools, there will no longer be fixed administrative classes or fixed classrooms for students as each of them will have their own course schedule. In this context, all teachers, along with other stakeholders in the school, have to move according to the course schedule.7 The class shifting system not only represents a change in the form of teaching, it will further give rise to credit system (学分制), stratified teaching (分层教学), and cross-grade course selection (跨年级选课). To be specific, many new situations will emerge. For example, many subjects will only be taught until examination, the difficulty of the same subject will vary, different textbooks will be used for the same subject, and a on Elective Examination Subjects for Enrollment by Regular Institutions of Higher Learning in Zhejiang Province] (Zhejiaokao [2014] No. 129),” November 7, 2014. 6  Based on a conversation with some high school principals of Zhejiang on October 7, 2014. 7  Hu Yaping 胡亚平, “Zhejiang 19 ri gongbu gaokao fang’an, huoshixing ‘zoubanzhi’ 1 ren 1 kebiao 浙江19日公布高考方案, 或实行“走班制” 1人1课表 [Zhejiang Announced Gaokao Plan on 19, Likely to Implement the ‘Class Shifting System’ Where One Student Has One Class Schedule],” Guangzhou Daily《广州日报》 ( ), September 19, 2014.

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class will consist of students in different grades. This raises new requirements for teachers’ course preparation and course teaching as well as schools’ course scheduling, classroom arrangement, and teacher deployment. Take Beijing National Day School for example, it implemented the class shifting system quite early. Now it has formed four major categories of courses, namely, stratified courses, categorical courses, comprehensive courses, and special classes. Of all these courses, there are 265 academic subjects, 30 comprehensive practice courses, and 75 vocational courses. Besides, such courses as Math, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology are divided into 4–5 levels based on students’ development path, course difficulty, and way of learning. There are even college preparation courses and advanced training courses for high achievers, and assistance courses for low achievers.8 However, due to difference in teachers, schooling conditions, and development characteristics, it is impossible for every school to provide such diverse courses as Beijing National Day School. Still, seen from the perspective of meeting students’ needs for diversified programs and tapping teachers’ development potentials, diversification of courses and school-oriented textbook compilation are an inevitable trend. Certainly, in the future, more and more senior high schools will develop various kinds of courses with school characteristics. Besides, Chinese Advanced Placements (中国大学先修课) and online open courses will enjoy a wider coverage of students. Thus, most teachers that teach subjects other than Chinese, Math, and English will not be left unutilized in the 12th Grade. Another change brought about by the elective system is the heavier emphasis on providing academic guidance for students. According to 2014 Survey Report on College Enrollment 《 ( 2014年高招调查报告》) published on China Education Website (中国教育在线), when it comes to filling out college applications, only 15.6% of examinees are clear about what majors they want to learn, 36.3% of examinees know what they do not want to learn but do not know what they want to learn, and up to 48.1% of examinees do not have a goal at all.9 It is within anticipation that in the initial period of the Gaokao reform, students are bound to have heavier doubts about what they should choose as they will be faced with more complex and diverse choices. Therefore, high schools must provide them with necessary help, so that students can have a better understanding of their own advantages and learn to make choices. Thus, 8  Lai Peigen 赖配根, “Xunzhao jiaoyujia banxue de DNA: Beijingshi shiyixuexiao banxue shijian tanfang 寻找教育家办学的DNA—北京市十一学校办学实践探访 [Look for the DNA of School-Running by Educators: Visit to Beijing National Day School to Study Its School-running Practices],” Give Schools Back to Educators, 2014 (10). 9   “2014 gaozhao diaocha baogao 2014高招调查报告 [2014 Survey Report on College Enrollment],” China Education Website, June 11, 2014.

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it will be a general trend for senior high schools to provide academic guidance courses and academic counselling. High school academic guidance should include more than guidance on the choice of subjects, study progress, and ways of learning. More importantly, it should provide students with targeted learning advice by understanding the different requirements of different colleges and universities. In the admission model characterized by due consideration of both major and university, senior high schools will have to understand more thoroughly the evaluation mechanism for students of different majors in different colleges and universities, and guide the planning of student courses according to the preferences of colleges. With the passage of time and the popularization of the course entitled Guidance for High School Students (高中生 生涯指导课程), we have reasons to believe that students will have a clearer understanding of themselves and make more rational choices in study. 3

More Colleges Will Gradually Carry out Independent Recruitment through Diverse Ways

An important objective of Gaokao reform is to abandon the “scoreoriented” practice. To this end, the new Gaokao plan regards comprehensive quality evaluation as an “important reference,” and includes it into the enrollment evaluation system together with the results of college entrance examination and academic performance tests. Although specific regulations and measures on how comprehensive quality evaluation should be done and used are yet to be formulated, the reform direction has already been made clear. The comprehensive evaluation enrollment model characterized by “integration of three considerations,” which is currently being implemented in Zhejiang Province, can be used for reference. According to this model, Gaokao score only takes up 50% of the final score, whereas the comprehensive quality evaluation score takes up as much as 30% to 40% of the total score. Suppose that the weights of Gaokao score (including the score of selective examination subjects), score of academic performance tests, and score of comprehensive quality evaluation are respectively 50%, 10%, and 40%, then one point in comprehensive quality evaluation, based on the hundred-point-system (百分制), will be equal to 6 points in college entrance examination, of which the total score is 750 points. To give a more vivid illustration, 10 points less in comprehensive quality evaluation score (such as 80 points and 90 points) will have to be compensated by 60 points more in college entrance examination score. Thus, it can be seen that comprehensive quality evaluation results are not nonessential “reference basis” for college enrollment but a decisive factor,

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which means that institutions of higher learning will enjoy a high degree of enrollment autonomy. After gaining enrollment autonomy, institutions of higher learning will have to “get the hang of enrollment” as soon as possible. Under the previous “score-oriented” enrollment system, institutions of higher learning simply “admit students based on scores alone” (“据分录取”), whereas after the reform, institutions of higher learning will admit students based on their preferred disciplines and majors as well as development needs. Thus, it will be a common challenge for institutions of higher learning to evaluate and select outstanding students that suit their characteristics and disciplines in a just, scientific, and effective manner. Since the school-running level and type, disciplines and majors, as well as development goals differ, different institutions of higher learning are bound to have different enrollment requirements and criteria. Under the enrollment system characterized by due consideration of both major and university, there will probably be disparities in enrollment requirements between different majors of the same university. As a result, institutions of higher learning will need to not only formulate a set of enrollment criteria that suit their needs for talent cultivation as well as reform and development, but also nurture and establish a large enrollment team of high-quality and professional recruiters. These tasks can by no means be done overnight. Instead, it calls for continued efforts, self-reflections, and improvement. In addition, institutions of higher learning will also need to establish and perfect the self-discipline mechanism for admission authority (招生权力的自 我约束机制). The Gaokao reform has enabled institutions of higher learning to enjoy bigger autonomy in the formulation of admission rules, independent evaluation, and student admission. Correspondingly, it will also require them to formulate admission rules in a scientific and reasonable manner, and ensure that the admission process and results are fair and just. As China is a society preoccupied with the importance of etiquette, favor, and relations (人情 世故), college enrollment will inevitably become corrupted without detailed and specific rules as well as rigorous and prudent procedures. Establishment of “an iron cage of regulations” (“制度的铁笼”) is aimed at not only prohibiting recruiters from abusing power, but also preventing possible corruption, violation of laws, and crimes. Thus, establishment of the self-discipline mechanism for admission authority will have direct influences on the progress of Gaokao reform, and even be a determinant of its success. Therefore, though college independent recruitment must be adhered to, delegation of powers to institutions of higher learning must be made with deliberation and in a step-by-step manner.

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Enrollment Reform Will Accelerate Transformation of Talent Cultivation Model in Institutions of Higher Learning

Previously, students were admitted by institutions of higher learning according to batches. Under this practice, the institutions of higher learning that were given the priority to recruit “the first batch of students” were always able to recruit students with high scores, whereas those that were only allowed to select from the second and the third batches of students had to make do with the remaining examinees based on the ranking of their scores. Due to the distinct pecking order made by humans that limits the choices for institutions of higher learning in their enrollment endeavor, there is bound to be discontent among many of them. Besides, generally speaking, examinees’ school records could only be received by one college or university. Students whose scores fall short of those required by their preferred majors had to accept the less-thansatisfactory options. In this context, a large number of students are bound to lose interest in their own majors and even complain about the college enrollment system and their own colleges. Although this model can effectively guarantee a stable number of enrollments for the majority of institutions of higher learning and majors and also enable some unpopular majors to attract students, it has resulted in limited choice for students and unfair competition between institutions of higher learning. In accordance with the new Gaokao reform plan, conditions will be created to gradually replace the practice of college admission based on batches with a two-way choice system for institutions of higher learning and students.10 In Shanghai’s plan, starting from 2016, the first and the second batches of students will be combined for colleges to choose from. It also put forward that efforts will be made to explore the feasibility of ensuring students to enjoy multiple choice-making chances and being admitted by multiple colleges.11 In accordance with Zhejiang’s plan, due consideration will be given to both major and university while screening students’ applications; all candidates will 10  State Council 国务院, “Guanyu shenhua zhaosheng kaoshi zhidu gaige de shishi yijian (guofa [2014] 35 hao) 关于深化招生考试制度改革的实施意见 (国发[2014]35号) [Implementation Opinions on Deepening Reforms of the Examination and Enrollment System (Guofa [2014] No. 35)],” (September 4, 2014). 11  Shanghai Municipal People’s Government 上海市人民政府, “Shanghaishi shenhua gaodengxuexiao kaoshi zhaoshengzhidu zonghe gaige shishi fangan (shangfu fa [2014] 57 hao) 上海市深化高等学校考试招生制度综合改革实施方案 (上府发[2014]57 号) [Implementation Plans of Shanghai Municipality on Deepening the Comprehensive Reform of College Examination and Enrollment System (Shangfufa [2014] No. 57)],” September 19, 2014.

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be granted an equal opportunity for college admission based on their applications only; and examinees’ applications will be simultaneously submitted to their preferred colleges for deliberation based on their total score.12 Under this enrollment model, examinees will enjoy more choices and bigger say in their choice. Besides, examinees will possibly decide their applications based mainly on the quality and characteristics of colleges together with their disciplines and majors rather than school reputation. For institutions of higher learning, the previous “competition over enrollment cut-off point” (“录取分数 线竞争”) will become meaningless. Instead, they will strive to compete with each other in the quality of students admitted on the basis of multiple elements, including examination results, comprehensive quality, and interest in their majors. Besides, any merit of students will be valued in enrollment consideration so that colleges will be blessed with students that excel in every aspect. With this reform, some distinct universities (especially private ones) that used to be categorized as “Tier II universities” or “Tier III universities” and some majors are expected to achieve major development and stand out from the crowd. The unpopular majors of some key universities will also be able to attract students with actual interest in the majors or are suitable for the majors instead of being pressured to attract students with high scores. Some majors with poor reputation or of low quality will most probably be eliminated due to the difficulty of attracting students. For all institutions of higher learning and majors, the reform brings about both opportunities and challenges. Thus, it will be a long-term focus and pending task for all institutions of higher learning and majors to seize opportunities, enhance quality, develop characteristics, and enable examinees and other members of the society to understand their efforts and progress. In accordance with the regulations of the pilot plan of the new Gaokao, institutions of higher learning can independently determine the range of subjects for academic performance tests for each discipline (or major). The number of subjects to be tested shall be no more than three. Students who meet the application requirements of any of the subjects can apply for the test. In this context, enrolled students are bound to come from diverse sources. Take Shanghai for example, students can choose one combination of subjects out of 20 as they are required to “choose three subjects out of six” in accordance 12  Zhejiang Provincial People’s Government 浙江省人民政府, “Zhejiangsheng shenhua gaoxiao kaoshi zhaoshengzhidu zonghe gaige shidian fangan (zhezheng fa [2014] 37 hao) 浙江省深化高校考试招生制度综合改革试点方案 (浙政发[2014]37号) [Implementation Plans of Shanghai Municipality on Deepening the Comprehensive Reform of College Examination and Enrollment System (Zhezhengfa [2014] No. 37)],” September 9, 2014.

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with its pilot plan. Should any subject be made mandatory by institutions of higher learning, it means that there would be ten combinations left for students to choose from. Similarly, should two or three subjects be made mandatory, there would be respectively 16 and 19 combinations left for students to choose from. If no subject were made mandatory, it means that all the 20 combinations would be available for students to choose from. In light of the diverse sources of college candidates and the new characteristics of their quality, it will be full of difficulties for institutions of higher learning to continue implementing the model of major-based recruitment and nurturing students according to major in their freshman year. Shanghai’s pilot plan has already required local institutions of higher learning to independently determine the range of selective subjects for academic performance tests based on discipline (or major). In comparison, Zhejiang’s plan expressly sets forth that “examinees’ applications shall be simultaneously submitted to their preferred colleges for deliberation based on their chosen majors.” This means that in the future, it will be popular for institutions of higher learning to recruit students according to majors or even regardless of majors. In that case, undergraduates will not be separated by majors in their freshman year. Instead, they will be provided with general education and guidance on what majors they are suitable for. Students will only be separated into different majors in the second year. However, such a new cultivation model will most probably result in a situation where various disciplines and majors within university “compete for outstanding freshmen.” In that case, all college disciplines and majors will be confronted with the challenge to provide high-quality and attractive general elective courses as well as to effectively identify and select students who have interest and potentials in each major according to these courses. As specialized education will only be carried out in the latter three years, the existing cultivation plan in colleges has to be updated. Besides, as the number of candidates for each major and each discipline fluctuates every year, plus the fact more students change majors due to the lowered requirements, institutions of higher learning will be faced with many new challenges in such aspects as the formulation of enrollment plan for each major, student management, and resource allocation. Thus, cultivation of senior professionals with strong innovation capacity and individual characteristics will be the theme of this round of talent cultivation model reform. 5

Education Thoughts Will Gradually Evolve amid Contradictions

The important principles of this Gaokao reform include the “idea of taking talent cultivation as the basis and following education laws,” taking the task of

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developing students in a healthy way as the purpose and goal of the reform, and abandoning the examination-oriented practice.13 “The essence of reform is to replace the ‘score-oriented’ enrollment practice with a more comprehensive evaluation approach that values talents of different types and highlights fairness.”14 Nevertheless, change of ideas requires a much longer time and much more efforts compared to the change of systems or policies. Therefore, the Gaokao reform is bound to experience twists and turns as well as stronger conflicts between old ideas and new ones in a long time to come. The first challenge that stands in the way of the change of ideas in Gaokao reform might be the “score-oriented” ideology that has taken root. Over the past 30 years, college enrollment has been based on the total score of college entrance examination, and on that only. Because of this, the whole education sector only cares about Gaokao score and every measure taken by high schools is aimed at improving students’ Gaokao score to the extent that every point matters. The new Gaokao enrollment system aims to reduce the importance of scores and abolish the score-oriented ideology through multiple measures, such as classification test, elective courses, comprehensive evaluation, and enrollment based on multiple considerations. However, enrollment is stilled based on the total points of college entrance examination score, academic performance test score, and comprehensive quality evaluation score. Thus, it is likely that a new form of “score-oriented” ideology will be formed. As the old saying goes, “even good ideas can be misinterpreted sometimes” (“好经也有 念歪时”). In order to get higher scores, most students will probably not only take part in the two English examinations and two tests of selective subjects, but also exhaust their measures to improve the score of comprehensive quality evaluation. Senior high schools will also try their best to formulate “scoreimproving strategies.” For example, they might prevent students from choosing certain examination subjects in order to make the best of their strengths and resources and cope with the academic performance tests with intensive preparation, while leaving the task of improving Chinese, Math, and English scores to be accomplished in the 12th grade. In order to guarantee enrollment “efficiency” and “fairness,” institutions of higher learning might still recruit 13  State Council 国务院, “Guanyu shenhua zhaosheng kaoshi zhidu gaige de shishi yijian (guofa [2014] 35 hao) 关于深化招生考试制度改革的实施意见 (国发[2014]35号) [Implementation Opinions on Deepening Reforms of the Examination and Enrollment System (Guofa [2014] No. 35)],” (September 4, 2014). 14  Wen Dongmao 文东茅, “Gaokao gaige fangan dui ‘weifenshulun’ de chaoyue 高考改 革方案对‘唯分数论’的超越 [Abolishment of the ‘Score-Oriented’ Enrollment in the Gaokao Reform Plan],” China Higher Education Research 《中国高教研究》 ( ) (October 2014).

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students based only on the weighted scores provided by the examination authority, and continue to compete with each other over enrollment cut-off point. However, seen from the sunny side, the above-mentioned phenomenon might just be a transitional one in the primary stage of the reform. As time goes by, more and more examinees and teachers might realize that the test scores of elective subjects do not play a large part in the final score, and that spending half a year or even a longer time preparing for the second academic performance test will do more harm than good. To be specific, such dedication might lead to a score higher than the previous one, but will not necessarily improve the student’s ranking among all examination participants. In contrast, with the popularization of the college independent recruitment system as well as improvement of the comprehensive quality evaluation system and the manifestation of its results, examinees will gradually realize that spending time and efforts improving comprehensive quality and developing specialties not only pays off in college enrollment, but also brings them life-long benefits. If this is the case, quality education is expected to be carried out in tangible ways in primary and secondary schools. What is more, even extra curriculum tutoring will be focused on meeting students’ individualized needs for developing their abilities, interest, and specialties. In addition, the Gaokao reform also underlines other important guiding thoughts, such as “teaching students according to their aptitude” (“因材施教”), “life-long learning” (“终身学习”), and “enabling every student to succeed” (“人 人成才”). However, due to impacts of the “unification” idea, schools of different levels and types are currently practicing homogeneous and rigid education philosophy, and there are many obstacles to the endeavors aimed at making innovation. Under the influence of the traditional concept that “values learning and undervalues practice” (“重学轻术”), the assessment criteria of “talents” have been inflexible, and talents with good vocational skills have been undervalued. Given this reality, it will be difficult to significantly improve the status and increase the attractiveness of vocational education in the short term, and the implications and effects of the classification test approach can hardly be felt quickly. Although it is put forward in the Implementation Opinions that measures will be taken to provide people with more channels of life-long learning, offer more opportunities for society members to receive diversified forms of education, and build a “flyover” for talent development, it still takes time for the life-long learning idea to take root due to people’s entrenched preoccupation with attending colleges and in particular renowned universities in the “elite higher education” stage. The obsolete mindset and conflicts in ideas will most probably increase the difficulty of the reform and cause the reform to take longer time. Despite this, Gaokao reform, which conforms

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to the development trend of the times and meets the needs of people, represents the correct direction of education development. Therefore, we should have confidence that the new right ideas will replace the old wrong ones in due time. Gaokao reform is like a sudden gust of wind that produces ripples in a pool of water. The new Gaokao is like a new baton, which will bring about changes to all levels and all kinds of education, either late or early, many or few, and direct or indirect. It should be one of the important tasks for researchers and policymakers to foresee at an early date, and correctly guide, the influences of Gaokao reform. Schools of various levels and types, teachers, students, and parents should also better recognize and understand the possible impacts of Gaokao reform. Again, as the old saying goes, “even good ideas can be misinterpreted sometimes.” Support and coordination from the whole society are indispensable to fully realize the original purpose of the Gaokao reform and advance the continued, systematic, and in-depth reform of China’s education. Thus, the correct attitudes should be to take initiative to accelerate the change (乐助其变), rather than “waiting passively for changes” (“静观其变”) or “meeting changes with constancy” (“以不变应万变”).

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Chapter 3

Explore the Chinese Path of Secondary Vocational Education Tian Zhilei, Wang Rong, and Liu Mingxing* Abstract This paper first provides a description of the relationship between regional characteristics and the development model of secondary vocational education through a simple analytical framework. Then based on the perspective of regional vocational education, it discusses the four relationships between the present private secondly vocational education and its public counterpart, followed by an introduction to the status of different types of private secondary vocational schools based on investigations and studies. After that, international comparisons are made to reveal the underlying contradictions in the development of China’s secondary vocational education at present as well as the acute challenges confronting the Eastern and Midwest parts of China. At last, the authors provide specific suggestions on reforming the investment system, establishing a more open governance structure, and supporting the development of private vocational schools.

Keywords pre-employment education – further study education – development of regional secondary vocational education – mixed ownership

*  This research was funded by the Director Foundation Project (71350002) of National Natural Science Foundation of China. Tian Zhilei 田志磊, Postdoctoral Fellow of China Institute for Educational Finance Research, Peking University; Wang Rong 王蓉, Professor and Doctoral Advisor of China Institute for Educational Finance Research, Peking University; Liu Mingxing 刘明兴, Professor and Doctoral Advisor of China Institute for Educational Finance Research, Peking University.

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2019 | doi:10.1163/9789004389021_004

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Different people tend to have different judgments about the status and development prospects of China’s secondary vocational education. Conflicts of opinions are very intense. It is a pity that although many views can attract people’s attention, few of them provide a thorough understanding of the richness of secondary vocational education from the perspective of regional development. Regional differences in socio-economic development and hierarchical management system have led to the diversity of regional secondary vocational education development. In order to understand the development status of China’s current secondary vocational education in an all-round way, the Secondary Vocational Education Subject Team of China Institute for Educational Finance Research, Peking University (北京大学中国教育财 政科学研究所) has successively conducted field investigations and studies in such places as Beijing, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Henan, Hunan, Shaanxi, and Shandong, and interviewed nearly 100 secondary vocational schools and some enterprises. Due to the different environments, secondary vocational schools in different regions provide differentiated education services and have formed different development patterns. This paper endeavors to map out a simple analytical framework to help readers understand the complexity of the current situation and explore the Chinese path of secondary vocational education. 1

Local Governments’ Willingness to Develop Secondary Vocational Education

For local governments, there are three factors driving their willingness to develop secondary vocational education, namely, assessment by the Central Government, needs of local industries, and education needs of residents. The main focus of the Central Government on the development of secondary vocational education is to guarantee that “the number of regular high schools and secondary vocational schools is similar” and that “every county runs a vocational education center well.” Education management authorities establish assessment mechanism accordingly and urge county governments to perform their responsibilities for vocational education. Different from the government, which is “the visible hand,” the market is “the invisible hand,” and how it plays its role in the development of secondary vocational education is mainly subject to the relationship between government and businesses. Generally speaking, the human resource needs of industry clusters and major taxpayers significantly affect local governments’ decisions on vocational education. Besides, governments also tend to support human resource needs related to investment attraction enterprises, whereas local small and medium-sized enterprises

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play a small part. Generally speaking, residents’ education needs tend not to directly influence local governments’ willingness in education supply. Despite so, in the fierce competition for students, the “voting with feet” mechanism has enabled residents’ education needs to influence government willingness indirectly: if the type and quality of education services provided by local secondary vocational schools cannot meet the needs of residents, children will choose to attend schools in a different region or directly join the labor force. There are remarkable differences in the influences of the above three factors on local governments’ willingness to supply secondary vocational education. In Eastern China, labor demand of local industries and residents’ education needs are the “two drivers” of secondary vocational education supply by local governments. In some regions, there are even secondary vocational schools that charge sponsorship fees and have higher enrollment cut-off points than regular senior high schools. Such schools normally have close relations with local industries and have established a sound reputation in the local labor market. Besides, local industries can provide them with very attractive job opportunities. In Midwest China, the relations between secondary vocational schools and local industries are weak. Most secondary vocational school graduates do not work in local companies. Instead, they tend to pursue further study or work in either coastal cities or large and medium-sized cities in the hinterland. Thus, assessment by superiors becomes a key factor affecting the supply of secondary vocational education by local governments. It is even the main reason for the existence of secondary vocational schools in quite a few counties. For example, as a pilot area of China’s vocational education reform, Henan Province has formulated detailed rules to assess the development of vocational education in various counties and cities. Development of secondary vocational education in some of its counties is even regarded as “a top-priority project.” Despite so, with the accelerated gradient transfer of the domestic manufacturing industry, inland counties and cities are also taking actions to improve the supporting services for vocational education in order to attract transfer enterprises. It is not uncommon to see them invest special funds to improve the schooling conditions of relevant majors according to the requirements of transfer enterprises. The needs of enterprises are playing a bigger and bigger role on the development of secondary vocational education in Midwest China. 2

Two Main Functions of Secondary Vocational Schools

Seen from the perspective of student cultivation, currently China’s secondary vocational schools actually have two main functions, namely, pre-employment

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education and further study education. The purpose of pre-employment education is to ensure that students can directly join the labor force after graduation. Thus, it mainly provides students with the knowledge and skills needed for employment; in comparison, the purpose of further study education is to enable students to pursue further study in higher education institutions after finishing their study in secondary vocational schools. Thus, with the establishment and improvement of the vocational education “flyover,” the importance of further study education model to secondary vocational education is further increasing. Different families need different types of pre-employment education and further study education. In the context of a severe shortage of workers and technicians, graduates who have received pre-employment do not have to worry about employment. Despite so, when such factors as social status, development prospects, and labor environment are taken into account, preemployment education does not appeal to families with good economic conditions. Differently, further study education can meet the needs of students who are unable to meet the enrollment requirements of regular senior high schools or unable to adapt to the examination-oriented study environment in regular senior high schools but aspire to receive higher education. Nevertheless, with the continued higher education expansion, higher vocational education is becoming less and less appealing. The college enrollment quota based on college entrance examination is decisive for the appeal of further study education. Shandong and Shaanxi stand out as two typical cases from all the provinces studied by the author. To be specific, the college enrollment quota based on college entrance examination in Shandong Province doubled every year in recent years. It reached 10,460 in 2014. Further study education has become a main function of secondary vocational schools in quite a few of its counties. And in Shaanxi, the college enrollment quota based on college entrance examination is only a few hundred. Few of its secondary vocational schools is aimed at further study education. Among all types of secondary vocational schools, specialized secondary school generally focuses on pre-employment education with its schoolrunning tradition and endowment of resources. Technical schools are characterized by strongly unbalanced development. In some regions, technical schools are suppliers of pre-employment education with the highest quality and boast abundant source of students. Yet technical schools in other regions have a relatively small number of full-time students and focus on short-term training. In comparison, vocational high schools are more diverse as they focus on both pre-employment education and further study education mentioned above.

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The survival status of a secondary vocational school is closely related to whether it has chosen a development model that suits its own resources and conditions. As pre-employment education has requirements on multiple aspects, such as fund investment, equipment and devices, training bases, and cooperation between school and enterprises, it is very challenging for secondary vocational schools to run pre-employment education well without necessary conditions in place. In comparison, the key to further study education is sound school management. Such conditions as financial investment, equipment and devices, and development level of local industries have relatively less influence on further study education. Secondary vocational schools in underdeveloped agriculture-based counties can also provide high-quality further study education. A case in point is a secondary vocational school that runs very successful further study education in an agriculture-based county in Henan Province. In that school, the author has witnessed the strictest teacher work attendance checking system: teachers have to clock in five times every day. In such fierce enrollment competition among secondary vocational schools, it is inappropriate to criticize the development model of secondary vocational schools without sufficient reasons. In reality, there are secondary vocational schools built with an investment of several hundred million yuan but have few students; there are also secondary vocational schools that used to enjoy sound development but are now left empty. A principal of a secondary vocational school under investigation said: “any school that can attract students to attend is a good school.” After a case study of over 30 counties and cities in Eastern and Midwest China, the author has further divided secondary vocational education into three models: further study education, pre-employment education targeted at local enterprises, and preemployment education targeted at enterprises in other places. In the following sections, the author will explore the basic laws of the development of regional secondary vocational education by taking regional characteristics into consideration. 3

Basic Laws of the Development of Regional Secondary Vocational Education

Out of many regional characteristics, three elements are critical to the formation of the development model of secondary vocational education: residents’ income, industry characteristics, and financial capacity. These three elements are not new. Yet accumulation in quantitative changes will lead to qualitative differences in development model. Residents’ income level is proportional

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to the needs for further study education, and inversely proportional to the needs for pre-employment education. Regional industry characteristics determine whether local secondary vocational school graduates can find local jobs that meet their expectations, and further influence the attractiveness of preemployment education to local residents. Financial capacity conditions the secondary vocational education model from the supply side. For example, it is very difficult for regions with weak financial capacity to provide sufficient fund guarantee for public secondary vocational schools. It is the ideal development model of regional secondary vocational education for many people to form pre-employment education that supplies talents for local industries. Yet in reality, this model is rarely seen. The survey on nearly ten counties and cities in Henan Province shows that only Jiyuan City, which is its most economically developed city, has formed this ideal model. Besides, among many counties and cities studied in Zhejiang Province, only Yongjia County has basically formed such an ideal model. Regions with developed industries and sound government financial capacity have the potential to form pre-employment education model that is aimed at supplying talents for local industries. However, if local residents’ income is high and the jobs provided to secondary vocational school graduates by local industries cannot meet families’ expectations, families will prefer to choose further study for their children rather than directly enter the labor force after secondary vocational education. In this case, it is hard for secondary vocational schools to perform its pre-employment education function. Most developed coastal counties and cities in East China are faced with such situation. In the past, developed coastal counties and cities could make up for such loss to some extent by recruiting students from other regions, and realize joint development of both further study education and pre-employment education. It is a pity that after the policy of free secondary vocational education was implemented, local governments needed to pay for the tuitions exempted for students. Because of this, Eastern regions reduced the enrollments of non-local students, and thus affected secondary vocational schools that focus on pre-employment education—because few local students need pre-employment education, quite a few schools, while having all material conditions for pre-employment education, shift their focus to further study education. Many economically advanced counties and cities in Zhejiang Province are all faced with this situation. In a short period of a few years, the percentage of students that choose to attend schools in other regions has reduced by nearly half, and the percentage of secondary vocational school graduates that choose to pursue further study in senior vocational schools or colleges has reached 70%. This has led to contradiction between industry demand and secondary vocational education model in such regions.

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In regions where industries are not developed and government financial capacity is weak, secondary vocational education is struggling due to adverse factors such as insufficient fund and difficulty to carry out in-depth cooperation between schools and enterprises. In such regions, most of secondary vocational schools that are developing well regard high-quality further study education as their core competitiveness. Take Zhengyang County, Henan Province as an example. More than 200 graduates from its vocational education center were admitted by Tier II colleges through college entrance examination, and it recruits more than 1,000 students every year. Apart from this, in such places there are also secondary vocational schools that seize opportunities and make the best of external forces to explore a development model that supplies graduates to industries in other places. A case in point is Longxian vocational education center of Shaanxi Province. It receives very limited financial investment from the government. And it is not one of the schools that enjoy major support from Shaanxi Government. Despite this, seizing the opportunity of the insufficient supply of welding and textile workers in Eastern areas, it attracted cooperation enterprises in Eastern areas to invest and install a large quantity of internship and practice equipment by supplying them with qualified graduates that are willing to stay. In this way, it not only made up for its insufficient financial investment, but also increased the depth of cooperation between schools and enterprises. In recent years, the enrollment of Longxian vocational education center has been increasing. Some counties and cities studied have experienced the accumulation of quantitative changes in regional characteristics and qualitative changes in secondary vocational education in a short span of a few years. In Shenmu County, Shaanxi Province, due to its developed energy industry, its residents are living a prosperous life and the government has strong financial capacity. Its secondary vocational education has been focusing on pre-employment education aimed at supplying talents for local industries. The goal of “similar proportion of regular senior high schools and secondary vocational schools has basically been reached.” In recent years, the energy industry has been gloomy. There is a decreased demand for talents among enterprises and employees’ income has also significantly dropped. In the context of changed industry environment, students’ willingness to pursue further study has surpassed their willingness for employment. As a result, further study education has become the mainstream of secondary vocational education in Shenmu County. In another county, crop farming is developed, government financial capacity is sound, and residents’ income is quite high. The vocational education center of this county, which is a national reform demonstration school, has solid basis. In the early years, its main pattern is pre-employment education focused on Eastern

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areas. However, with the increase in the yields of crops, pre-employment education aimed at supplying talents for manufacturing industry in other places has gradually lost its appeal. In the meantime, the school has failed to make a major breakthrough in further study education. As a result, its enrollment has been decreasing. 4

Implementation of “Mixed Ownership” in Secondary Vocational Education

In June 2014, the State Council promulgated the Decisions on Accelerating the Development of Modern Vocational Education. According to this document, “efforts shall be made to explore and develop vocational colleges of joint-stock system and mixed ownership. Participation in school running with such elements as capital, knowledge, technology, and management should be allowed and enjoyment of relevant rights be granted.” Mixed ownership became the focus of vocational education reform and was regarded as instructional innovation that could overcome limitations in objective conditions and stimulate the education vitality of secondary vocational education. At present, implementation of mixed ownership in the field of secondary vocational education is represented at three levels: First, mixed ownership at school level. Conduct shareholding reform among public secondary vocational schools. Generally speaking, controlling stake is alienated to social capital, whereas local government provides support in such areas as teachers’ salary, school construction, and office expenses. The actual results of reform depend on the investors’ willingness and ability to run schools. This form can be further divided into two types, namely, purchase by external capital, and purchase by school management. The former is more commonly seen. Cases in point include Yiyang County of Henan Province and Xiping County Vocational Education Center. The latter is rarely seen. A typical example is Pingyang County Vocational Education Center in Zhejiang Province. Second, mixed ownership in school-enterprise cooperation practice base. Schools and enterprises jointly establish practice bases. Schools provide factories and equipment, whereas enterprises provide consumables. Students do internship in the practice bases. The profits of the produced products shall be shared by schools and enterprises, or be retained by schools for student cultivation. Since equity participation with state-owned assets must go through the approval procedures, it is very complicated in practice. This model normally does not appear in joint-stock system. Third, mixed ownership at professional level. Private secondary vocational schools or private labor training institutions and public

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schools conduct specific high-cost professional joint development programs and both parties share the returns on tuitions. Typical cases include Song County and Gushi County vocational education centers in Henan Province. Through introduction of mixed ownership reform, some places have successfully broken through the limitations of objective conditions and achieved the secondary vocational education development model that focuses on preemployment education despite the weak industry basis and financial capacity. There are positive cases of all three mixed ownerships. But in comparison, the latter two mixed ownership reforms are safer in practice as schools have more say. The first type is confronted with bigger risk, and there are already cases where schools failed and were re-purchased by the government. Thus, if the first type is implemented, strict examination of the investors’ schoolrunning qualifications shall be carried out. 5

Private Secondary Vocational Education

Private secondary vocational schools, which have a better awareness of schoolrunning cost, stronger innovation capacity, and stronger ability to respond to market demand, can enhance the diversity of vocational education and bring about the “Catfish Effect” to the public vocational education system. Despite some irregular behaviors, their contributions and values are out of question. In recent years, due to such reasons as a decreased number of school-age children and more preferential policies for public secondary vocational education, development of private secondary vocational education has slowed down nationwide, reflected in the considerable decrease in the number of private secondary vocational schools and the significant drop in enrollment. To understand the status quo of private secondary vocational education, first of all we need to understand what role private secondary vocational education plays in the secondary vocational education system. From the perspective of regional development, four types of relationship exist between private secondary vocational education and its public counterpart: competition, symbiosis, differentiated survival, and system transformation. The most commonly seen is the competitive relationship. In the constrained development room determined by regional characteristics, both parties provide similar education services and compete for local students. Symbiotic relationships are rare. It is necessary to carry out the third form of mixed ownership innovation mentioned before, where public schools make use of private schools’ flexibility in policies and resource allocation, and private schools make use of public schools’ various storage resources to achieve win-win results.

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Differentiated survival means that public schools and private schools have neither fierce competition nor close cooperation, but have different sources of students and different positions for students after graduation. System transformation refers to the formation of the first form of mixed ownership property right structure mentioned before after public schools are transformed into private ones. According to the motivation, system transformation can be divided into two types: system transformation based on school-running performance and system transformation based on school-running cost. Seen from the survey results, the majority of private secondary vocational schools, which are in competitive relationship with regional public secondary vocational schools, are confronted with dilemmas, and only the minority of them that have high-quality employment opportunities in hand are enjoying sound development. Private secondary vocational schools that are in differentiated survival or symbiotic relationship with regional public secondary vocational schools are developing well, but what are worth noting are the huge enrollment cost caused by information asymmetry in the enrollment market as well as the efficiency loss and high employment cost for students caused by the monopoly of high-end employment positions in the employment market. The situation is much more complicated with schools that have undergone system transformation. Of the many system transformations under study, some are successful and some result in failure. It can be seen that system transformation is of high risks. Its success mostly depends on the capacity, intention, and attitudes of the operator. In the process of system transformation, measures should be taken to prevent “the practice of enclosure in the name of running schools” and prohibit the negative impacts to school operation caused by inappropriate arrangement of ownership structure and conflicts between shareholders. 6

Local Contradictions and Challenges from Global Perspective

Scholars have summarized the four typical skill formation models in the world: first, the liberal model represented by the U.S. This model is characterized by little enterprise participation, little government accountability, and lack of an independent vocational education system. Vocational skills training is mainly based on the satisfaction of individual needs in the regular education system. Second, the segmentation model represented by Japan. This model is featured by much enterprise participation, little government accountability, and host of mutually-segmented skills training system by big enterprises. Third, centralized authority model represented by France and Sweden. It is characterized

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by little enterprise participation, high government accountability, and strong overall planning by the Central Government. Fourth, collective model represented by Germany. This model unites the high enterprise participation with government accountability. Enterprises undertake a large part of pre-vocational education training cost. Guilds and labor unions play an important role in this model. From the perspective of international comparison, there will be a new understanding of the vocational education reform that is happening in China. In terms of policies, construction of the modern vocational education system has the obvious centralism tendency of being dominated by the education administrative system with strengthened capacity of overall planning by the Central Government. In reality, we tend to find cases where the skill formation models of segmentation and liberalism play an important role in improving the quality of the labor force in China. Quite a few big enterprises with stable market position, low staff turnover, and abundant capital have established developed internal training systems and have a strong touch of the segmentation model. In comparison, in industries with high staff turnover and high returns on vocational skills investment, such as IT training companies and beauty salon and hairdressing training institutions, practitioners tend to receive training in private training institutions that are recognized by the market and obtain qualifications certificates awarded by such institutions. However, in the disclosure system of the ideal vision of China’s vocational education development, the worship for the German collective model has played a dominating role. Nevertheless, people tend to overlook the systematic support of political and economic systems needed by the collective model, such as the system support for enterprise collective actions and a stable coordination mechanism between the counties and enterprise alliances. Seen from some economically advanced counties and cities that have been learning from the German model, there is similarity in form but deviation in spirit, the organic relations between enterprises and the government in the responsibility to develop vocational education are yet to be established. We believe that due to the complexity of China’s national conditions, it is unrealistic to expect a quick establishment of a certain model. Instead, coexistence of multiple models will remain for a long time. Instead of copying the experience of other countries, it is better to make efforts to reflect upon and resolve the acute problems in China’s secondary vocational education development at the moment. First, the contradiction between the externality and arrested development of the organization and mechanism of enterprise collective actions in the vocational education investment by an individual enterprise. Arrested development

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of the organization and mechanism of enterprise collective actions is typically represented in the arrested development of industry associations. Employment mobility of graduates results in the externality of the vocational education investment by an individual enterprise. As a result, enterprises lack the imitative to invest in vocational education. When industry associations can restrain enterprises to some extent and carry out inter-conditioned negotiations with the government, families, enterprise, and government would be stable and an institutionalized cost sharing mechanism will take shape. A typical case is the binary model. However, it is difficult to resolve the arrested development of China’s industry associations and enterprises’ lack of initiative. Second, pressure from the Central Government and the education administrative system as well as the contradiction between the inharmonious willingness of local governments and other important doers. Seen from the national scope, the Central Government’s goal suits the needs of social-economic development for vocational education, but does not necessarily cater to local governments’ willingness. As different regions have different regional resource endowments and have formed different secondary vocational education development models, they have totally different preferences in vocational education expenditure. The same tuition-free policy is fully implemented in a certain coastal county in Eastern China that has formed pre-employment education model aimed at supplying talents for local industries. However, in a neighboring county that focuses on further study education, some of the funds invested in secondary vocational education were used for distributing subsidies. Thus, relying solely on the administrative pressure from the Central Government and the funding of the Central Finance still cannot fully mobilize the initiative of local finance. Third, the contradiction between the administrative distribution of fiscal investment and the marketization of the value of vocational education. The higher the administrative ranking and the bigger the scale of school is, the easier it is to get fiscal support. Currently, although to some extent there is a professional gap in secondary vocational education subsidies and per-student public fund, this does not reflect the actual professional school-running cost. There is also a lack of evaluation of school-running quality, social demand, and assessment. Besides, although the special item investment focused on building of demonstration schools has significantly improved the school-running conditions of demonstration schools, it still belongs to administrative resource allocation. It has become a shared understanding among global vocational education financial appropriation research institutes to emphasize the importance of output factors. At present, the ways of China’s fiscal fund allocation lack performance-based appropriation based on the market perspective.

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Apart from the aforementioned contradictions nationwide, considering the different socio-economic development levels, China’s East and Midwest are confronted with their own acute problems. In Midwest China: First, the contradiction between the development scale and quality of secondary vocational education. In order to realize the policy objectives that “the number of regular high schools and secondary vocational schools is similar” and that “every county runs a vocational education center well,” the widespread distribution of vocational schools has stood in the way of the development of regular specialized secondary schools and technical schools. In the context of limited fiscal input in secondary vocational education, overemphasis on scale has stood in the way of quality improvement. The improvement of school-running conditions and curriculum design of vocational schools cannot keep up with the pace of industry technology upgrading. It is hard to provide enterprises with highly skilled workers, while poor cultivation quality and employment quality in turn result in residents’ lack of willingness to attend secondary vocational schools. Second, the contradiction between investment in secondary vocational education and investment in compulsory education. The dropout rates of junior high schools in agricultural counties in Midwest have generally exceeded 20%. Due to the limited financial capacity of county-level governments, the emphasis on county vocational education has resulted in the competition for education resources between secondary vocational education and compulsory education. In some agricultural counties, the poor quality of compulsory education has led to the decrease of the consolidation rate of compulsory education, and finally resulted in the decreased enrollment of secondary vocational schools. In Eastern China: First, the contradiction between secondary vocational education development pattern and needs of industries. In developed regions in the east, local enterprises have a huge demand for skilled talents. And secondary vocational schools, with sound equipment and high-quality teachers, can fully meet the requirements for cultivating skilled talents. However, with the increase in wealth of local residents, more and more families prefer further study education to direct employment after graduation from secondary vocational schools. Students from other places have made up for this gap to some extent. Nevertheless, in recent years, with the implementation of the freetuition policy, local governments reduced the enrollment quota of local secondary vocational schools for students from other places in order to reduce its financial burden. This has further accelerated the transformation of industry-­ oriented pre-employment education to further study education in secondary vocational schools in developed counties and cities. Besides, it has also intensified the contradiction between secondary vocational education model

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and industries’ human resource demand in developed counties and cities in the east. 7 Conclusions As pointed out in the Decisions of the State Council on Accelerating the Development of Modern Vocational Education, “the present vocational education still cannot fully adapt to the socio-economic development needs. Its structure is not very reasonable, its quality is yet to be improved, the schoolrunning conditions are weak, and the mechanism and system are not smooth.” In the face of the problems confronting the development and reform of secondary vocational education at present, the author has the following suggestions: First, it is the priority of the reform to establish a mechanism by enterprises invest in vocational education. There are many limitations in increasing investment in vocational education by the Central Government and local governments through such policy tools as the traditional per-student fund appropriation and special fund awards or allowances. Thus, it is difficult to achieve the goal of pushing forward industry structure transformation and upgrading. It might be more effective and better meet the actual needs to mobilize the initiative of local finances and enterprises through appropriate tax policies, such as tax reduction, so as to push forward the rapid development of school– enterprise collaboration in the short term. Second, foster a sound understanding of the overall framework of China’s skill formation system and give secondary vocational schools market-oriented financial incentives. In design of the fiscal appropriation mechanism of secondary vocational education, full consideration should be given to the coexistence of the further study education model and pre-employment education model, and cost factors and market demand should also be taken into account, so as to gradually establish a vocational education appropriation mechanism characterized by dynamic adjustment according to the supply and demand situation of the labor market. Third, make efforts to establish an open vocational education governance framework. “Government-enterprise cooperation” should be added to “school– enterprise cooperation,” so as to enhance the overall planning level of vocational education and industry cooperation, explore the establishment of vocational education development commission, give it real power as well as some capital utilization and distribution power. Fourth, improve the policy environment for the development of private secondary vocational schools. Under the premise of eliminating the

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discrimination of fiscal policies against private vocational education and encouraging local governments to strengthen supervision, financial support should be given in light of the functions and position of private secondary vocational schools in the local region and outstanding private secondary vocational schools should be encouraged to utilize the idle public vocational education resources. Special attention should be given to the financing policies of private vocational schools. It is suggested that relevant education, fiscal, and financial authorities shall, in light of the actual existence and development conditions of private education institutions, strengthen the study the special issue of pledge of assets of private education institutions, so as to provide private schools the opportunity to borrow loans from banks.

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Chapter 4

What Kind of Senior Secondary Education Does China Need? Ke Jin, Shi Yaojiang, Zhang Linxiu and Scott Douglas Rozelle* Abstract In the coming decades when China’s economic growth is expected to slow down, industrial structure upgrading calls for the support of talents with higher quality and skills, especially a labor force and talent pool consisting of people who are at least graduates from senior high schools. In accordance with the Rural Education Action Plan (农村教育行动计划), students in urban areas enjoy a 35-time-higher probability of being admitted by renowned universities, and a 21-time-higher probability of being admitted by regular colleges and universities with four-year schooling (普通四 年制本科大学) than those in rural and poverty-stricken areas. Although secondary vocational education has been a priority for China’s education policy, studies suggest that most students in secondary vocational schools have not only failed to acquire advanced skills after two years of learning, but also regressed in their basic knowledge. These problems have become major barriers to the development of senior secondary education (including secondary vocational education) in China.

Keywords secondary vocational education – human capital – rural and poverty-stricken areas – assessment system of vocational education (职业教育评估体系)

*  Ke Jin 柯进, Journalist and Editor of China Education Daily (中国教育报); Shi Yaojiang 史耀疆, Professor of Shaanxi Normal University (陕西师范大学); Zhang Linxiu 张林秀, Researcher of Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy (中国科学院农业政策研究中心) and Director (China) of Rural Education Action Plan; Scott Douglas Rozelle, Professor of Stanford University and Director (United States) of Rural Education Action Plan.

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2019 | doi:10.1163/9789004389021_005

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Unbalanced Development: A Challenge for China’s Future Development

Over the past three decades since the Reform and Opening-up, China has made substantial achievements in economic and social development, and has been acknowledged by the international community in such areas as improving people’s livelihood, increasing people’s living standards, and reducing poverty. However, will such progress extend into the next three decades? This is an issue that will affect the successful transformation of China’s socioeconomic development. Historically, there were many late bloomers—OECD members such as Japan, South Korea and New Zealand are all examples. However, there were also some countries that experienced the same economic boom but failed to maintain their competitiveness later on. For example, Argentina was the most affluent country in the world in the early 20th Century but slipped into recession and stagnation after the Second World War (二战); other countries such as Uruguay, Iraq, and Venezuela also maintained rapid economic growth in the 1960s and the 1970s. But that was just a flash in the pan. Mexico also experienced a development stage similar to that in the present-day China. Given this context, which kind of model is the best one for China’s future development? In other words, can China create a brand-new development model with Chinese characteristics? Only time will tell. According to the golden rule of economic development, there is a negative correlation between economic growth and uneven social distribution. For many countries, in the transition period when they try to develop from middleincome countries into high-income ones, economic growth and unbalanced economic development tend to become the most striking contradiction. For example, Northeast Asia, South Korea and Taiwan have maintained a model characterized by even economic development in their transition period. Their Gini Coefficient1 (基尼系数) is only 32. Similarly, many southern and eastern European countries have maintained a good social distribution system in their transition period. For example, the Gini Coefficient in countries such as Portugal, Spain, Greece, Israel, Croatia and Slovenia stands at around 30, so do countries like Ireland and New Zealand.

1  Gini Coefficient is an important indicator to measure the equality of income distribution. Specifically, the lower the Gini Coefficient is, the more equal the income distribution is; and the higher, the more unequal. The Gini Coefficient in developed countries ranges from 24 to 26.

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In striking contrast, in many countries undergoing a transitional period, unbalanced development has become more and more serious as their economy grows. For example, when countries such as Chile and Mexico enjoyed rapid growth, their Gini Coefficient was as high as 50; the Gini Coefficient in countries like Costa Rica and Argentina was around 47. Such highly unbalanced development model will inevitably hamper the further development of economy. As a result, these countries suffered different degrees of stagnation or even recession when their per-capita income reached 1,500 US dollars. Then, why did these countries fail to sustain their economy when they tried to develop from middle-income countries to high-income ones? Economists have pointed out that the economic stagnation or even recession these countries experienced in their later development stage is closely related to the widening gap between the rich and poor and the instability triggered by economic slowdown. As a matter of fact, not all people can share the prosperity brought about by economic growth. In particular, when the rapid growth of people’s income stops, if the government fails to adopt timely measures to mitigate the impact of economic slowdown on people’s income, the domestic economy will slow down even further. After 30 years of Reform and Opening-up, China’s economy has also started to display a trend towards unbalanced regional and structural development, with its Gini Coefficient reaching 50. Almost all economists believe that China’s economic growth is expected to slow down in the next decade. It is hard for us to tell whether China’s economy will achieve a good transformation like what Japan, South Korea, and New Zealand did in the past, or follow the same path as Argentina and Mexico who slipped into stagnation or even recession, or blaze a new transformation trail that suits our national reality. However, what is evident is that by 2030, China’s demographic dividend (人口红利) will be the same as that of Japan in 1990, which means the era featuring cheap labor will come to an end. Besides, China and Japan share many other similarities. For example, both countries are facing an aging society, and have a similar higher education system. Therefore, the ability of China to achieve sustainable socioeconomic development is greatly determined by how China addresses or eases income disparity and inequality from 2025 to 2030. Among Asian countries, Japan also experienced the pain of zero growth. However, the competitive edge of Japan over China is that Japan’s per-capita GDP in 1990 is much higher than that of China in 2025. It is estimated that China’s per-capita GDP in 2025 will be less than 40% of that of Japan in 1990. Such disparity in per-capita GDP and per-capita income will definitely hamper China’s endeavor in speeding up its economic development. More importantly, back in 1990, the inequality of social distribution was low in Japan, its Gini Coefficient was only 31, and most

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Japanese managed to maintain a relatively high basic income, these factors greatly relieved the “pain” inflicted on Japan by economic slowdown or zero economic growth. Evidently, from 2025 to 2030, China is expected to experience economic slowdown or even zero growth like Japan, which will further widen the gap between the rich and the poor. So, how severe will China’s social inequality be in 2025? Will such inequality intensify or reduce compared to the current level? 2

Today’s Human Capital Determines Tomorrow’s Gap between the Rich and the Poor

Economists have long argued that the root cause of unbalanced development in one country lies in its income inequality, and more importantly, the total amount of human capital in that country. This is because human capital or labor productivity will become the primary determinant of the income of labor force. Currently, China’s is confronted with a high level of income inequality. Its Gini Coefficient is reaching 50, which is rarely seen worldwide. Then, what is the status quo of human capital in China? Issues of labor supply have gradually become the bottleneck for China’s sustainable development. Structural problems related to the supply and demand of labor forces such as “labor shortage,” “technician shortage,” and “difficulty of finding jobs” keep emerging one after another. Against such a backdrop, we must immediately promote new industrialization, adjust the economic structure, and shift the economic development model so as to facilitate the economic transformation. However, according to the experience of developed countries and those developing countries that have achieved transformation, in order to optimize industrial structure, we need talents of higher quality and with more sophisticated skills. In particular, we need to create a labor force and talent pool consisting of people who are at least senior high school graduates. As we know, the key to industrial restructuring is to improve labor productivity, and the improvement of labor productivity is the very result of the improvement of their education level. The Rural Education Action Plan (hereafter referred to as REAP), jointly formulated by the Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy, Center for Experimental Economics in Education of Shaanxi Normal University (陕西师范大学教育 实验经济研究所), Northwest Socioeconomic Development Research Center (西北社会经济发展研究中心), and Stanford University, is a result of in-depth researches and investigations in different provinces of China in the past five years. It suggests that school-age children in rural and poverty-stricken areas

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account for 45% to 50% of the national total, and over 80 million out of these children are aged from 6 to 15. These children will become the backbone of China’s socio-economic development in the future, and what kind of education they receive will directly determine the labor productivity in the future. As we know, in the 1960s, when some developed countries and regions such as Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan were experiencing the same level of economic development as China at present, they established an excellent education system covering all schools from primary schools to senior high schools. The labor reserve consisting of people who are at least graduates from senior high schools has greatly helped the industry structure of their countries or regions to transform from low-end manufacturing to high-end industries such as modern manufacturing and service industry. What concerns us is that the unbalanced development of post-compulsory education (including senior secondary education and higher education) has become the bottleneck for higher labor productivity in China. According to the research of REAP on the college-entrance examination results of 60 million students in 2009, students in rural and poverty-stricken areas are less likely to receive higher education than those in urban areas. According to the statistics, students in urban areas enjoy a 35-times-higher probability of being admitted by renowned universities, a 21-times-higher probability of being admitted by regular colleges and universities with four-year schooling, and even a 15-timeshigher probability of being admitted into junior colleges than those in rural and poverty-stricken areas. Such disparity in higher education development reflected in enrollment rate is just the tip of an iceberg of the unbalanced education development between rural and urban areas. It is certain that like many developed countries, not all students have to go to universities. Establishing quality vocational education is also an important way to improve labor productivity. For example, the development of vocational education in German and Japan well speaks to the international competitiveness of their industrial technology. However, it is acknowledged by both China and the rest of the world that receiving at least senior secondary education is vital to improving labor productivity in rural areas. Currently, in China, only 24% of the labor force between 24 and 36 have received senior secondary education. The percentage is even lower than that of Mexico, Turkey, and South Africa. It is 74% in OECD countries. In China, university graduates only account for 11% of the total labor supply, while the case in Japan is 40%. Although the gross enrollment ratio of senior high schools in China was 79.2% in 2009, there is a huge disparity between rural and urban areas in senior secondary education. Specifically, in urban areas, 80% of students receive senior secondary education, while in rural areas, which are the major source of

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China’s labor forces, only 50% do. The percentage is even lower in remote rural areas in western China. According to a three-year follow-up survey (from 2009 to 2013) conducted by REAP in 123 middle schools in 15 counties, only 46% of students are admitted into senior high schools, and over 26% students in rural areas fail to finish their nine-year compulsory education, and directly enter the labor market. Such disparity between dropout rate and gross enrollment ratio means that over 150 million students in rural areas cannot receive senior secondary education. Instead, they directly enter the labor market after completing the nine-year compulsory education. In order to avoid the same problems Japan once encountered, China must face and address such challenge by increasing its support to rural education and rural senior secondary education. We should ensure a full coverage of regular senior secondary education. Even in vocational high schools, we should make sure that basic courses such as Mathematics, English, Chinese, and Computer dominate the curriculum while specialized courses be taught as a supplement. 3

Challenges Confronting Secondary Vocational Education

According to the existing education system in China, senior secondary education consists of two parts: regular senior secondary education and secondary vocational education. Secondary vocational education includes education of regular technical secondary school (普通中专), vocational high school (职业 高中), adult technical secondary school (成人中专), and vestibule school (技 工学校). How to effectively distribute public investment for senior secondary education (高中教育公共投资) means how to allocate public investment into regular senior secondary education and secondary vocational education in a reasonable way. For those children in rural areas who are about to finish their nine-year compulsory education, what kind of senior secondary education they choose will determine their future career development and their ability to adapt to economic transformation. According to the researches in the past, compared with regular senior secondary education, students receiving secondary vocational education get lower pay when they enter the job market. Therefore, since the 1990s, the World Bank has suggested that countries worldwide invest more education funds into regular senior secondary education. However, compared with the rest of the world, vertically, the rate of return of secondary vocational education in China has improved. But horizontally, it is still lower than that of regular senior secondary education.

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In 2005, Decisions of the State Council on Vigorously Developing Vocational Education 《国务院关于大力发展职业教育的决定》 ( ) stipulated that “we shall prioritize secondary vocational education.” In 2008, The Third Plenary Session of the 17th CPC Central Committee (党的十七届三中全会) proposed the policy to “accelerate the development of secondary vocational education in rural areas and gradually make it free of charge.” Meanwhile, as to the regular senior secondary education, the state introduced the policy of “keeping an eye on its development pace and development scale.” These policies were implemented soon after their introduction. According to the statistics, from 2005 to 2008, the enrollment of secondary vocational education in China increased from 6.557 million to 8.121 million, with an annual increase rate of 7.3%. In the same period, the enrollment of regular senior high school gradually declined from 8.777 million to 8.37 million, with an annual decline rate of 1.6%. In 2008, the Central Government and local governments invested 18 billion Yuan to provide national grant to students in secondary vocational schools. Such national grant covered over 90% of secondary vocational students, with each student receiving 1,500 Yuan every year and 3,000 Yuan in two years’ study. Since the autumn semester in 2009, students from poor families and students majoring agriculture in secondary vocation schools have been exempted from tuition fees. Thanks to years of enrollment expansion of secondary vocational schools and a large amount of special funds, the gross enrollment ratio of senior secondary education reached 77% in 2009. Although China has invested a large amount of money into vocational education, it remains unknown whether secondary vocational education has promoted the labor productivity or not. In other words, has such huge amount of investment brought about equivalent development benefits? According to the survey of REAP, the demand for secondary vocational education in rural areas is very limited, and the middle school students in poverty-stricken areas have a low willingness to go to secondary vocational schools. When they are admitted into middle schools, only 14% of students are willing to go to secondary vocational schools after graduation, while 52% of students are more willing to go to regular senior high schools, which is a big contrast. If we promise to provide national grant to students in rural areas, there will be more students willing to go to regular senior high schools, but the number of students who are willing to go to secondary vocational schools remain unchanged. According to a follow-up survey among 942 middle school students, only 11% of them choose to go to secondary vocational schools. In contrast, 32% of them go to regular senior high schools, and 6% students choose to restudy in the hope of being admitted into regular senior high schools next year.

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The dropout rate of students in secondary vocational schools is high. According to the survey of REAP, in secondary vocational schools, 33% of students tend to drop out in their first or second year of schooling, while the case in non-key senior high schools covered in this survey is only 4.7%. For those who continue their secondary vocational school education, 41% expressed that if they had another chance, they would not go to secondary vocational schools. Besides, 25% of them believe that they cannot find a full-time job in the first 6 months after graduation, and 46% believe that they cannot find a major-related full-time job in the first 6 months after their graduation. The survey also indicates that when students find they are unable to obtain any new skill after half a year’s learning, they tend to drop out from the school and directly enter the job market. According to the preliminary research of REAP, the dropout rate in secondary vocational schools tops all kinds of schools with almost 40% of students choosing to drop out from school before they finish their two-year learning. Students in secondary vocational school start to regress in basic knowledge. The experience of other countries shows that a successful vocational education needs students to not only grasp some special skills but also further improve their basic knowledge (including Chinese, Mathematics, and so on) so as to meet the needs for their jobs. According to a survey conducted by REAP among students in secondary vocational schools, after two years of secondary vocational education, they not only fail to obtain new skills but also regress in their basic knowledge such as basic Mathematics and Chinese. Through random intervention experiments, researchers conducted two standardized mathematic tests within targeted students in secondary vocational schools. The results show that after two years of vocational education, the standard deviation of students’ test results declined by 0.29, which means their mathematics had regressed to the level of three months ago. Another problem confronting China’s senior secondary education is that there is no comprehensive, post-compulsory education assessment system in place. Besides, the number of senior high school graduates is very limited. The existing secondary vocational education assessment system is unable to evaluate the education quality of secondary vocational schools. Faced with a secondary vocational education market with a mixture of good and bad, parents are afraid of sending their children into it. They may totally deny it and choose to send their children directly into the job market. The above-mentioned situation has stood in the way of the further development of senior secondary education (including secondary vocational education). Although the Measures on Supervising, Guiding, and Evaluating Secondary Vocational Education (中等职 业教育督导评估办法) introduced by China in 2011 listed 30 evaluation indicators, only three pertain to the quality of students’ cultivation. The indicators Dongping Yang - 978-90-04-38902-1 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 11:15:48AM via free access

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of education supervision and guidance focus on the teaching activities input, and policy institutions. Faculty team, infrastructure, and education funds are indicators that schools care about most. The investment-oriented evaluation system can guarantee the funds for secondary vocational schools, but cannot ensure the quality of talents cultivation. In fact, while increasing investment into secondary vocational education, China failed to conduct a systematic and in-depth research on a series of key problems. First, how is the supply of senior secondary education in China? In a word, who is the provider of senior secondary education? How are the sources of students, funds, school running conditions, and teaching quality of senior high schools? Then, as we know, rural area is the crucial part as well as the difficult part for China to make senior secondary education accessible to all (普及高 中阶段教育). How many middle school graduates are admitted into senior high school? What kind of factors will make them choose to attend regular senior high school, secondary vocational school, or directly join the job market? Will the enrollment expansion of secondary vocational schools, national grant policies, and the policy of local governments to make free senior secondary education accessible to all influence students’ preference in choosing which kind of schools they will go to? Finally, does secondary vocational education have an edge over regular senior secondary education in terms of the rate of return? Should China focus on secondary vocational education or not while universalizing senior secondary education? Therefore, it is our priority to deeply research the issues related to post-compulsory education. The answers to the abovementioned questions will definitely be of great significance for China to formulate public investment strategy for senior secondary education, cultivate a talent pool consisting of labor forces and talents who can well meet the needs of the development transformation and economic restructuring. From the micro perspective, for those rural middle school students who are still at school age, the choice between furthering their study and directly joining the labor market is a huge concern for them. It is even harder for them choose between regular senior secondary education and secondary vocational education. Standing at this crossroad, those who worry a lot are not only education departments but also those students in rural areas who suffer from constant worries. 4

Explore the Scientific Development of Senior Secondary Education

The Outline of China’s National Plan for Medium and Long-term Education Reform and Development 《国家中长期教育改革和规划纲要》 ( ) introduced in 2010 clearly stipulated that while further making nine-year compulsory Dongping Yang - 978-90-04-38902-1 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 11:15:48AM via free access

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education accessible to all, we shall make more efforts to popularize senior secondary education. The Outline also formulated the timetable for making senior secondary education available to all: the gross enrollment ratio of senior secondary education will be increased from 79.2% to 87% from 2009 to 2015, and further raised to 90% by 2020. The Outline clearly stipulated that by 2012, the proportion of budgetary education funds (财政性教育经费) to GDP shall reach 4 percent so as to lay a material foundation for the achievement of all objectives we set including the universalization of senior secondary education. According to the statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics (国家统计局) in 2006 and in 2009, from 2004 to 2007, the proportion of senior secondary education funds to national budgetary education funds increased from 13.5% to 15.8%. As more and more national budgetary funds go to education, and the proportion of senior secondary education funds to national budgetary education funds is on the rise, how should we distribute public investment for senior secondary education so as to make senior secondary education accessible to all and cultivate qualified talents to promote the economic transformation? How effective will different public investment strategies for senior secondary education be? These are important strategic issues that policymakers and education management departments must take into consideration. We should make secondary vocational education quality an important indicator in the education supervision and guidance system, and enhance the role of government departments in supervising the teaching quality in secondary vocational schools. The ultimate goal of secondary vocational schools is to cultivate quality labors as well as junior and intermediate skilled talents so as to meet the needs of economic development. Currently, indicators related to education quality only accounts for 9% of all the indicators that aim to supervise and guide secondary vocational education, and such proportion needs to be further increased. Besides, we should also add the following education evaluation indicators such as test results, practice performance, contest performance, dropout rate, and the unemployment rate after one-year working so as to cultivate secondary vocational talents. We should further optimize the program design (专业设置) and the outlay of secondary vocational schools, enhance the teaching of basic knowledge, set detailed standards for the teaching of special courses, and perfect the structure of specialized courses. We should ensure a reasonable outlay of secondary vocational schools in certain regions, and make full use of the unique advantage of each school while enhancing the teaching of basic knowledge so as to optimize the use of resources. Meanwhile, we should also accelerate the formulation of standards for the teaching of specialized courses, clarify the

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teaching objectives of specialized courses, formulate detailed course structure, allocate teaching hours into skill-based courses and general knowledge courses as well as theoretical courses and practice-based courses in a reasonable way, and guide the design of specialized courses in secondary vocational schools. We should promote secondary vocational education in a steady way, avoid blind expansion, and prioritize the quality building of secondary vocational education. Although expansion of secondary vocational education is of great significance to education fairness and social stability, research shows that the low quality of secondary vocational education makes students unwilling to go to secondary vocational schools or drop out early after a period of secondary vocational education. Therefore, the biggest priority for us is to shift our focus from quantity to quality so as to make sure students can learn useful skills and ensure realization of the goals of secondary vocational education.

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Chapter 5

The Policy of the Transformation of Local Colleges and Universities: Evaluations and Reflections Tao Dongmei* Abstract The transformation of local colleges and universities (地方本科) has a direct bearing on the structural adjustment of higher education (高等教育结构调整). In order to improve the system of modern vocational education, recently the Central Government has rolled out policies to turn some colleges and universities into application-oriented technical colleges (应用技术型高校), which are positioned as undergraduate-level vocational colleges and universities (职业本科). However, these policies not only fail to reflect local conditions and but also involve excessive red tapes. Through an analysis of the global trends in the classification of higher education institutions (高等教育机 构) and the status quo of higher education in China, the author believes that a balance should be stricken between vocational education and general education (普通教育) to form an interconnected and ternary structure consisting of academic, professional, and vocational education (“学术型-专业应用型-职业技术型”三元交叉体系). This shall help local colleges and universities to better position themselves and speed up the transformation process.

Keywords transformation of local colleges and universities – modern vocational education system – higher education classification (高等教育分类)

In March 2014, Lu Xin, Vice Minister of China’s Ministry of Education, proposed to turn 600 colleges and universities into ones providing vocational education. On June 22, Decisions of the State Council on Accelerating the Development of

* Tao Dongmei, 陶东梅, PhD candidate at the Graduate School of Education, Beijing Institute of Technology.

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2019 | doi:10.1163/9789004389021_006

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Modern Vocational Education 《国务院关于加快发展现代职业教育的决定》 ( ) stated explicitly that some colleges and universities would be turned into application-oriented technical colleges by positioning themselves as undergraduate-level vocational colleges and universities. This effort aims to form a system of modern vocational education consisting of secondary vocational education, junior college education, undergraduate education, and graduate education. Soon after, six Ministries, including the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Finance, jointly launched Modern Vocational Education System Building Plan (2014–2020) 《现代职业教育体系建设规划（ ( 2014~2020年）》). In accordance with the Plan, higher education institutions are classified into three categories: research-oriented universities (研究型大学), application-­ oriented technical colleges (应用技术型高校), and higher vocational colleges (高等职业学校).The initial implementation of these policies, however, was met with considerable disputes among relevant parties who are unsure if local colleges and universities should be turned into vocational colleges, and if so, how to position and classify them in the higher education system. Local authorities are hesitative, and the schools concerned had different attitudes. In response, a clearer classification of Chinese higher education institutions must be put in place to facilitate the transformation of local colleges and universities. 1

The Difficulties Facing Local Colleges and Universities That Are the Majority of China’s Higher Education Institutions

China’s higher education has become increasingly universal. According to the National Education Statistics Bulletin of Ministry of Education (2013)1 《 ( 2013年 全国教育事业发展统计公报》 ), the country’s higher education institutions have a total of 34,600,000 students, the most in the world. In addition, the number and type of higher education institutions in China are also growing. In 2013, there were 2,491 regular higher education institutions, of which 1,170 were colleges and universities (本科院校), and 1,321 were higher vocational colleges. Among the regular colleges and universities, nine were the first group of the “Project 985” universities (985工程), the country’s leading research-oriented universities (研究型大学); 30 were the second group of the “Project 985” universities; 73 were among the “Project 211” universities (211工 1  Ministry of Education 教育部, “2013 nian quanguo jiaoyushiye fazhang tongji gongbao 2013 年全国教育事业发展统计公报 (2013) [National Education Statistics Bulletin of Ministry of Education (2013)],” Available on the website of Ministry of Education: http://www.moe .edu.cn/publicfiles/business/htmlfiles/moe/moe_633/201407/171144.html.

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程); 646 were time-honored local colleges and universities (地方老牌本科) (government-funded, local “Project 211” universities established before 1999); 646 were newly-established local colleges and universities (地方新建本科) (schools established in prefecture-level cities since 1999 through merger and upgrading), accounting for 55.2% of all regular higher education institutions.2 In general, there are approximately 100 colleges and universities under the direct jurisdiction of State Departments and Ministries (部委直属院校). Local colleges and universities make up 95% of regular colleges and universities (普 通本科). Currently, higher vocational education (高等职业教育) is provided by junior colleges (大专), with 100 national demonstration senior vocational schools (国家示范性高职院校) already established. Among local colleges and universities, newly-established ones make up a dominating 60%. They are responsible for turning elite education (精英教育) into mass education (大众化教育). By April 2012, there had been 256 newlyestablished government-run universities (新建公办院校), 94 private-run

FIGURE 5.1 Distribution of regular colleges and universities in China, 2013 高校机构数：Number of Higher Education Institutions 顶尖研究型大学：Leading Research Universities 地方新建本科：Newly-Established Local Colleges and Universities 地方老牌本科：Time-honored Local Colleges and Universities 核心985大学：“Project 985” Universities 重点211大学：“Project 211” Universities

2  The number of institutions is derived from the 2013 List of Regular Higher Education Institutions, and the Research Report on the Transformation of Local Colleges and Universities 《地方本科院校转型发展研究报告》 ( ) published by the Chinese Academy of Education.

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universities (民办院校), 292 independent colleges (独立院校), and four SinoForeign jointly-run universities (中外合办院校). There are three types of government-run universities. The first type is upgraded from junior normal colleges. Some of them still keep the word “normal” in their titles, such as Luoyang Normal University (洛阳师范学院). Others are renamed to reflect the prefecture-level city where they are located, such as Harbin University (哈尔滨学院). This type of university, with a total number of 118, accounts for 50% of all government-run universities. The second type is created through either the merger between higher vocational schools and schools focused on a particular industry, or upgrading. Most of these universities used to offer finance and economic programs, such as Tongling College (铜陵学院), or engineering programs, such as Changzhou Institute of Technology (常州工学院). The third type are adult universities turned from colleges, such as China Women’s College (中华女子学 院). There are 22 such universities. In terms of regional distribution, 42% of the newly-established, local colleges and universities are located in Eastern China, particularly in Pan-Yangtze River Delta Regional Economic Belt (泛长江三角 洲区域经济带), and the rest is located in Central and Western China. There are about twice the number of junior normal colleges-turned universities (师 范专科升本) in Central and Western China as in Eastern China, but there are less industry-specific, higher vocational schools-turned universities (高职行业 类升本) in Western China compared with Eastern China. The newly-established local colleges and universities in China generally fall into two categories. One is skill-based universities that specialize in the training of highly-skilled professionals in such areas as production, construction, and management. They are similar to undergraduate-level vocational colleges and universities. Examples include Shanghai Dianji University (上 海电机学院) and Beijing Institute of Petrochemical Technology (北京石油化 工学院). These schools, after being transformed, are still focused on the same industry. Independent colleges offering liberal arts programs also belong to this category. The other is application-oriented universities, which cultivate engineers who are able to apply theories into practices. This type of universities has a balanced research and vocational focus. Most of the technical universities in German are of this type. The rapid development of higher education has also brought about many issues pertaining to education quality, scale, and structure. The biggest problem is that higher education institutions has increasingly failed to meet the demand of the society. Even though local colleges and universities make up the majority of China’s higher education institutions, their positioning has always been ambiguous, leading to poor education quality and low employment rate. Each year, university graduates flock into the job market. In 2014, this

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TABLE 5.1  Distribution of newly-established local colleges and universities by region and type from 1999 to April 2012

Types of colleges and universities

GovernmentRun Universities

Central regions

Western regions

Junior Normal Colleges-Turned Universities

29

42

47

118

Higher Vocational SchoolsTurned Universities

13

7

6

26

Industry-Specific SchoolsTurned Universities

34

32

15

81

Adult colleges-Turned Universities (成人高校改制)

14

4

4

22

5

2

2

9

26

20

14

60

14

18

2

34

4

0

0

4

272

215

159

646

Newly-Established Private-Run Colleges and Universities (新 建民办本科) Independent Colleges-Turned Private-Run Institutions

Sino-Foreign Jointly Run Universities Total Number

Total number

Eastern regions

Newly-Established Colleges and Universities

Private-Run Institutions

Regional distribution

Source of data: Complied by the author based on Whose Interests Are Affected by the Transformation of the Newly-Established Local Colleges and Universities by Li Jianping, published on China Youth Daily, June 15, 2014

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number reached an astonishing 7.27 million, up by 280,000 compared to the previous year. Nevertheless, massive job vacancies were unfilled. For local colleges and universities, this issue is particularly serious. As to graduate employment rate, in 2012, local colleges and universities were ranked behind “Project 985” and “Project 211” universities. Even vocational colleges outperformed local colleges and universities. The same situation was also reflected in China’s Social Landscape 2014: Analysis and Predictions 《 ( 2014年中国社会形势分析与预测》), which indicated that the employment rate of the graduates of local colleges and universities was 77%, lower than the 80.5% of key colleges and universities (重点本科) and the 91.9% of higher vocational schools (高职院校). In the existing higher education system in China, research-oriented universities and higher vocational schools have a relatively clear and focused positioning. The role of the former is to cultivate academic talents, and the latter, technical ones. By contrast, local colleges and universities are “sandwiched” in between these two types of schools. While the time-honored colleges and universities may try to go after the mode of education in top universities, newly-established ones are more awkwardly positioned. They offer similar programs, resulting in graduates who are barely distinguishable. According to a report on the education quality of newly-established colleges and universities, among the 43 samples, only 59.8% passed the evaluation for program design and structural adjustment (专业设置与结构调整), and 69.8% passed that for program development (专业建设).3 Some newly-established colleges and universities simply copy the programs offered in other universities and make hasty decisions. In addition, credit crisis in local colleges and universities has not been fundamentally resolved. By the end of 2010, unpaid debts of these schools had built up to 26,349,800,000 Yuan. Many of these schools have defaulted. Transformation, therefore, is in urgent need. 2

The Evolution of Policies for the Transformation of Local Colleges and Universities in the Past Years

Policies of the Central Government for the Transformation of Local Colleges and Universities Between the release of the signal by the Central Government to transform local colleges and universities and the unveiling of an official policy, there had 2.1

3  Liu Daocai 刘道彩, “daxue haiyou remen zhuanye ma 大学还有热门专业吗 [Are There Popular Majors in Universities?],” China Youth Daily (The Second Edition), April 2, 2014.

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been lots of setbacks. In February 2014, China’s Premier Li Keqiang chaired an executive meeting in the State Council, where it was decided that a group of colleges and universities would be turned into application-oriented technical universities. This decision is a key step to speed up the development of modern vocational education4 and will end the days when vocational education was only provided in junior colleges. In the same year, the assessment of the decision’s feasibility began. The Ministry of Education organized 35 local colleges and universities from 15 provinces to study the real economy and modern vocational education system in Europe. Its purpose was to guide these schools in the transition towards undergraduate-level vocational colleges and universities by drawing upon the experience of their European counterparts.5 This policy classifies China’s higher education institutions into three categories based on the types of talents: research-oriented universities, application-oriented technical colleges and higher vocational colleges. Public sentiment on the transformation of local colleges and universities reached a peak after the speech made by Lu Xin, China’s Vice Education Minister, at China Development Forum (中国发展论坛) in March 2014. In his speech, the Minister announced that the over 600 colleges and universities established after the year 2000 would be turned into “application-oriented technical colleges and vocational colleges.”6 However, many questions were left unexplained. For example, what are “application-oriented technical colleges”? Are they the same as vocational education institutions? Will the decision cover all the over 600 local colleges and universities? The speech triggered considerable controversies within and beyond the education community. Some worried that these newly-established colleges and universities would be “downgraded.” Others blamed the government to be “over-administrative.” At the 2014 Conference on Vocational and Adult Education (职业教育与成人教 4  People Daily 人民日报, “Li Keqiang zhuchi zhaokai guowuyuan changwuhuiyi, bushu jiakuai fazhan xiandai zhiyejiaoyu 李克强主持召开国务院常务会议, 部署加快发展现 代职业教育 [Premier Li Keqiang Chaired an Executive Meeting in the State Council, and Decided to Accelerate Modern Vocational Education],” People Daily (The Second Edition), February 27, 2014. 5  Ministry of Education 教育部, “Luxinfubuzhang 2014nian quanguo zhiyejiaoyu gongzuohuiyi shang de jianghua 鲁昕副部长2014年全国职业教育工作会议上的讲话 [Remarks of Vice Education Minister Lu Xin at the National Conference on Vocational Education],” March 25, 2014, Available on the website of Jincheng Education Bureau: http://www.jcedu .sx.cn/newsInfo.aspx?pkId=5458. 6  Ministry of Education 教育部, “Luxinfubuzhang ‘zhongguo fazhan gaoceng luntan 2014’ shang de jianghua 鲁昕副部长“中国发展高层论坛2014”上的讲话 [Remarks of Vice Education Minister Lu Xin at the China Development Forum 2014],” March 22, 2014, Available on the website of Sohu Education: http://learning.sohu.com/20140322/n397039059.shtml.

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育工作会议), Lu Xin reiterated that the proposed transformation was a key step in exploring vocational education at undergraduate-level. According to the statistics by China Youth Daily, in the four days from 12 a.m., March 22 to 4 p.m., March 26, a total of 72,353 posts about this issue were published, with the number of people for or against it being roughly the same. On the Internet, there was a list of 600 colleges and universities that are going to be transformed to vocational schools. And this policy was misinterpreted as the one to turn colleges and universities into junior colleges, which led to the concern among some universities, parents, and children. Three months later, the website of China’s Central Government (中国政府 网) published the Decisions of the State Council on Accelerating the Development of Modern Vocational Education.7 The Decision was an evidence that the State Council regarded the transformation of higher education institutions as an important way to build a modern vocational education system and adjust the current higher education system. But detailed measures were yet to come. In addition, six ministries under the Central Government, including the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Finance, jointly launched the Modern Vocational Education System Building Plan (2014–2020), which proposed a dualtrack system featuring a modern vocational education system that coexists with a regular higher education system in order to explore the possibility of classifying higher education institutions into research-oriented universities, application-oriented technical colleges, and higher vocational colleges. Local authorities were required to incorporate this policy in their 13th Five-Year Plan (十三五规划).8 Following the adoption of the policy, in the press conference held by the Information Office of the State Council (国新办), the Ministry of Education clarified9 some ambiguities about the notion of “the transformation of 600 colleges and universities.” In terms of the number, “not all these 600 colleges 7  4 State Council 国务院, “guanyu jiakuai fazhan xiandai zhiye jiaoyu de jueding 关于加快发 展现代职业教育的决定 [Decisions of the State Council on Accelerating the Development of Modern Vocational Education],” June 22, 2014. Available on the website of the Central Government of People’s Republic of China: http://www.moe.gov.cn/publicfiles/business/ htmlfiles/moe/s8159/201406/170737.html. 8  Ministry of Education and other five ministries 教育部等六部门, “xiandai zhiye jiaoyu tixi jianshe guihua (2014–2020 nian) 现代职业教育体系建设规划（2014~2020年） [Modern Vocational Education System Building Plan (2014–2020)],” June 24, 2014, Available on the website of the Ministry of Education: http://www.moe.gov.cn/publicfiles/business/htmlfiles/moe/s8159/201406/170737.html. 9  Information Office of the State Council 国新办, “Guoxinban jiu zhiyejiaoyu gaige yu fazhan qingkuang juxing fabuhui 国新办就职业教育改革与发展情况举行发布会 [Information Office of the State Council held the Press Conference on the Development and Reform of

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and universities are to be transformed,” but “only a few of them.” In terms of positioning, schools turned into application-oriented technical colleges will offer vocational education at undergraduate level, and in the future, at postgraduate one. The purpose is to link these schools with secondary and tertiary vocational institutions in a modern vocational education system, instead of downgrading them. In terms of the targets for transformation, “it could be newly-established ones, or time-honored ones; as an alternative, it could be the majority of the programs provided at a school, or some of them.” According to the Ministry of Education, some “Project 985” and “Project 211” universities could also be turned into vocational institutions. More than 130 colleges and universities have applied for transformation. Different Performance of Local Governments in Implementing Policies In the implementation of the transformation policies, relevant interest groups have shown different attitudes. In the International Forum on Industry and Education (产教融合论坛) in April 2014, 178 higher education institutions jointly launched the Zhumadian Joint Declaration 《驻马店共识》 ( ), vowing to pioneer the education reform and explore “the path towards the building of application-oriented technical colleges with Chinese characteristics.” These 178 higher education institutions were all local colleges and universities, and Huanghuai University (黄淮学院), the conference organizer, was chosen by the Ministry of Education as a pilot school for transformation. The Declaration triggered heated discussions. While some media praised these higher education institutions as bold pioneers who took the initiatives to implement the State Council’s strategy to turn a group of local colleges and universities into application-oriented technical colleges, others blamed the Declaration for a lack of diversity, and that it was a mere channel to convey the Ministry of Education’s decisions. Although the Ministry of Education regards provincial authorities as the key to the implementation of this policy, most of them have adopted a waitand-see attitude. Many have expressed the view that the reform timeline and the list of to-be-turned universities are yet to be decided. Jiangsu Province, for example, has identified some independent colleges, newly-established colleges and universities and a few time-honored colleges and universities to be turned into technical colleges. But local education authorities believe that the decision should be made by schools themselves. By now, Hubei, Hebei and Henan 2.2

Vocational Education].” June 26, 2014, Available on the website of China.com: http://www .china.com.cn/zhibo/2014-06/26/content_32757276.htm.

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Provinces have identified ten higher education institutions for transformation, but many others are still waiting for more state policies to be introduced. Local colleges and universities have responded to the policy with opposite attitudes. Those in support are mostly private-run, or independent colleges. The six higher education institutions chosen to implement the policy when it was just adopted all fell in this category. Shortly after, two independent colleges (Wenhua College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology [华 中科技大学文华学院] and Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business [武汉 长江商学院]) were also positioned as application-oriented technical colleges when turned into private-run ones. By contrast, there have been few newlyestablished government-run colleges and universities (公办新建本科) that applied for transformation. These schools identify themselves as applicationoriented, and believe they do not need be turned to vocational ones. Local colleges and universities began to argue bitterly over what they are: vocational schools or general schools, which worried the central education authorities. As a response, the central education authorities published an article titled How to Reform Higher Education (高等教育到底怎么改). At the same time, another education official spoke in public that he had never mentioned “transformation” or whatsoever, and that local colleges and universities should remain what they are.10 Against this backdrop, the question of how to transform local colleges and universities has become more elusive. 3

Profound Reflections on the Policies for the Transformation of Local Colleges and Universities

At the same time, the transformation of colleges and universities has drawn lessons from the higher education systems of European countries to construct a dual-track model in which a modern vocational education system and a regular higher education system coexist with each other. Under this model, the identity of vocational colleges has been changed, which is a major breakthrough because it shows that the government has decided to regulate a disordered higher education structure. However, from the initial stage of formulating transformation policies for local colleges and universities, there 10  Li Jianping 李剑平, “Jiaoyubu gaojiaosi sizhang Zhangdaliang fouren ‘benke gaoxiao zhuanxingshuo’ 教育部高教司司长张大良否认“本科高校转型说” [Vice Minister Zhang Daliang of China’s Ministry of Education Denies the Notion of ‘the Transformation of Local Colleges and Universities’],” China Youth Daily (The Third Edition), November 25, 2014.

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have been controversies like “ambiguous concept of the text” and “highly administration-related,” and relevant stakeholders have displayed different opinions. The central decision-making authorities are also wavering. From the introduction of the notion of “transforming 600 local colleges and universities into vocational schools” to the clarification of such notion by the Ministry of Education, and to officials at the Ministry of Education overturning the idea of “transformation,” we can see the extreme difficulties in the transformation of colleges and universities. This transformation is not just a revolution within the educational system, but also closely related to the future of every college and university. Institutional Deficiencies and Over-administration in Higher Education Transformation is faced with numerous difficulties, among which constitutional deficiencies and over-administration are the major concerns. If we look at the international history of higher education governance, in the 1970s, the New Public Administration Movement (新公共管理运动) featuring debureaucratization and marketization emerged in some western countries, which has promoted the diversity of higher education and facilitated the establishment of multiple governance models. The first model is institutional governance (制度性治理), under which the government relies on macro-level measures such as the law and funding to classify and administer higher education institutions. For example, Holland University of Applied Sciences (荷 兰应用技术大学) gained the legal status as universities in 1986 through the Act on Higher Education and Vocational Education《高等教育职业教育法案》 ( ); Austrian University of Applied Sciences (奥地利应用技术大学) acquired a higher social position in 1993 through the Act on University of Applied Sciences ( 《应用技术大学法案》 ). The second model is adaptive governance (适应性 治理), under which a competition mechanism is introduced to steer colleges and universities towards market needs. For example, Germany adopted the “deregulatory” New Steering Model (新领航行政模式), under which the government delegates its powers to local authorities and schools. Different states are responsible for running the colleges and universities. As a result, application-oriented technical colleges took on various characteristics such as “small but proficient” and “unique.” The third model is self-governance (自主性治理), under which modern decision-making institutions are established within universities to independently create uniqueness in schooling. The Master Plan for Higher Education in California, USA (美国加州高等教育总体规划) is a milestone in higher education classification system. University of California (加州 大学), administered by its board of directors, places a strong emphasis on the 3.1

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self-governance of universities and therefore ensures the flexibility in running various types of higher education institutions. However, in China’s policies for the transformation of colleges and universities, one can see that although a target for the classification of higher education institution has been set, the promotion of education equity and de-­ administration have not been prioritized. By contrast, the de-­administration reform in primary and secondary education has made substantial progress. In 1993, Shanghai proposed a Principal’s Professional Ranking System (校长 职级制), which replaced administrative ranking with professional ranking. Shandong, Guangdong, and Shaanxi Provinces quickly followed such system. In the field of higher education, the voice to abolish the administrative rankings and establish principal’s professional rankings has become ever stronger. However, there are some dissenting voices, believing that it is hard to truly implement such a system given the fact that administration prevails in China. Supporters and opponents also reach a consensus that the separation of administration, schooling, and assessment will help realize “de-administration.” Currently, the classification of colleges and universities and administrative level are directed related to the priority in resources allocation. As a result, the higher education system becomes rigid and uniform, and diversification, a quality that mass education should possess, is nowhere to be found.11 Local colleges and universities continue to blindly “upgrade.” A vocational school wants to be a university, and an undergraduate university wants to have master’s program, and then doctoral programs. Colleges and universities blindly go after those key universities. The “upgrade” of a university means the administrative officials in this university will upgrade as well, and the university can have access to relevant research funds and social status. In China, the classification of research-oriented universities is in line with that of administrative levels, and administration, schooling, and assessment are unified. Colleges and universities are divided into various grades and ranks according to their ability in scientific research. Therefore, it can be seen that if the administrative level is not got rid of, even the best classification will be of no effect. The Concepts of Regular Colleges and Universities and Vocational Education Still Contradict Each Other The policies for transforming local colleges and universities have widened the gap between vocational education and general education. In Europe, some 3.2

11  Yang Dongping 杨东平, “guanyu gaodeng jiaoyu de zhongguo moshi 关于高等教育的“ 中国模式” [The Chinese Model of Higher Education],” Jiangsu Higher Education, (the first edition), 2011.

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countries classify application-oriented technical colleges as vocational schools; others classify them as regular higher education institutions, instead of vocational schools, together with research universities. Germany is an example in this regard. In Germany, application-oriented technical colleges are classified as professional schools, while higher vocational education is offered by vocational schools and junior technical colleges. China emulates the German type of application-oriented technical colleges, but misunderstands them as vocational schools, leading to considerable confusions. Some time-honored colleges and universities, which were modeled after their German counterparts, have already focused on technical education. Why should they be transformed? Moreover, why can application-oriented technical colleges in China only fall in the vocational category? These questions must be properly answered so as to end the debates between vocational education and general education. Although the policy calls for a modern vocational education system, the philosophies for vocational education are outdated. Some view the transformation of regular colleges and universities into vocational education as undermining the quality of higher education. The reason for vocational education to be lagging behind regular education lies in not only outdated philosophies, but also institutions. In China, academic certificates and qualification certificates are issued by different ministries. To be specific, the Ministry of Education is responsible for awarding degree certificates whereas and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (人社部) is responsible for awarding vocational qualification certificates. These two types of certificates are not mutually acknowledgeable, causing considerable inconsistencies. Compared with those schools designated for vocational transformation, the 100 demonstration higher vocational colleges are the best candidates to be undergraduate-level vocational colleges and universities. According to the policy, once transformed, these application-oriented technical colleges will be positioned as undergraduate-level vocational colleges and universities. However, how different are they from higher vocational colleges or junior colleges? Is the graduate education in regular higher education institutions and that in vocational colleges going to be truly compatible? In China, such concepts as “vocational undergraduates” (职业本科生) and “vocational postgraduates” (职业研究生) are still quite ambiguous. By contrast, Germany has unified the enrollment policies, qualification certificates and schooling in both general and vocational education into a consistent system. Such system is a prerequisite for the successful implementation of a general-vocational dual-track system.

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4

Transformation of Local Colleges and Universities: Paths and Prospects

Clear positioning of higher education institutions is only possible when there is a feasible classification system and a governance structure that can guarantee a well-functioning higher education system. Given insufficient policies for the transformation of colleges and universities, it is necessary to study the history of classification of higher education institutions in other major countries. Viewing the issue using a Chinese as well as a western lens will be of great help in reshaping China’s vocational and general education landscape and building a governance structure for higher education based on school types. It will also provide a new perspective for the transformation and positioning of local colleges and universities. Since the mid-1900s, across the world, the connotation and denotation of “higher education” has gone through two major changes.12 First, the scale of higher education has expanded from a few schools into a higher education system. Second, the nature of higher education has changed from the study of “abstruse” knowledge to lifelong learning. Newly-established colleges and universities that were upgraded from higher vocational colleges and the time-honored ones have the same status. Their constant interaction has led to more diversified types of schools. In short, higher education has changed from elite education to universal education. The integration of vocational and general education has become a common trend in the development of higher education across the world. Since then, the world’s higher education has been classified into three types: academic, professional, and vocational.13 These types of education interact with each other and form a continuous talent spectrum (See Figure 5.2). Take Engineering as an example. Engineering scientists prefer academic research, engineering practitioners focus more on professional application, and engineering technicians place more emphasis on vocational training. Inside each type of higher education, schools can also be classified into different categories according to the type of talents they cultivate. For example, the professional schools in Germany have a single focus: they are solely devoted to cultivating professional graduates. The same type of schools in France has a dual mode: 12  Teichler, U., “Changing Structures of the Higher Education Systems: The Increasing Complexity of Underlying Forces,” Higher Education Policy 19, no.4 (2006). 13  Mikhail, S. W. The Alternative Tertiary Education Sector: More than Non-university Education (The World Bank, 2008).

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they provide vocational education, but also assist students in being admitted into more advanced schools. The community colleges in the USA are more diversified: they provide vocational education, general education, as well as education that helps students in obtaining a higher degree. From these examples, it is suggested that higher education institutions may follow a three-step path: classification of higher education, systematic classification of higher education institutions, and classification of types of higher education institutions. And they can also identify their positioning by giving consideration to their own distinctive characteristics. At present, China should first and foremost build a modern higher education system that unifies general and vocational education with the same concept, namely, lifelong learning. This will reduce the difference between “vocational education” and “general education.” In the light of the world’s experience and China’s status quo of higher education, the author would like to suggest as follows: First, a few “Project 985” and “Project 211” universities should be positioned as academic institutions of higher learning, while the majority be ­positioned as institutions of higher learning that lay equal emphasis on research and application. Second, local colleges and universities already positioned as application-oriented technical colleges shall remain what they are and improve education quality. Third, some colleges and universities positioned as technical schools may choose to turn into undergraduate-level

FIGURE 5.2 Evolution of the world’s higher education system 高教中大学部分：Old Universities in Higher Education 高教中新大学部分：New Universities in Higher Education 双元体系：A Dual System 三元体系：A Ternary System 传统大学（学术型）：Traditional Universities (Academic) 新大学（专业应用型）：New Universities (Application-oriented) 新大学（职业技术型）：New Universities (Vocational)

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Evaluations and Reflections TABLE 5.2 World classification of higher education institutions and a proposal for the future classification of China’s higher education institutions

Academic

Germanya

Comprehensive universities Seminaries, art colleges, and normal colleges

Professional

Vocational

Engineering universities Vocational Colleges Application-oriented technical colleges

Technical Colleges

Undergraduate-level Vocational College (职业本科学院) Short-term College of Technology (短期技术大学) Senior Technician Seminar (高级技术员班)

Franceb

Université

Grande école

U.K.c

Universities

Engineering universities Multi-disciplinary colleges Special colleges

U.S.d

Comprehensive universities

Special colleges

Community colleges Technical colleges

Japane

Comprehensive universities

Comprehensive universities

Short-term colleges Higher vocational colleges Technical and scientific colleges

China (Future plan)

Some “Project 985” and “Project 211” universities

Some “Project 985” and Some newly-established colleges and Universities (vocational); “Project 211” universities; Time-honored local Higher vocational colleges colleges and universities; Some newlyestablished colleges and universities

Source of data: a. Statistisches Bundesamt, Institutions of Higher Education 2014; b. Justin, J.W. “Comparing the Relationship between Vocational and Higher Education in Germany and France,” 2009; c. CHEPS: Higher education in UK, 2007; d&e. Pan Maoyuan 潘懋元, “guanyu gaodeng xuexiao fenlei dingwei tesefazhan de taolun 关于高等学校分类、定位、特色发展的讨论 [Discussions on the Classification, Positioning, and Characteristic Development of Higher Education Institutions],” Education Research, 2009. Dongping Yang - 978-90-04-38902-1 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 11:15:48AM via free access

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vocational colleges and universities; the 100 demonstration higher vocational colleges and universities may be upgraded into undergraduate-level vocational colleges and universities. Higher education institutions are encouraged to focus on one type of education, but they may also integrate research, application, and skills. For higher education institutions classified based on talent types, there should be no difference in ranking. Each type should have the opportunity to become world-class institutions. To build a modern and classification-based higher education governance structure, the Central Government must play a role. But this role must not be over-played. A well-designed governance structure is a prerequisite for the classification and positioning of higher education institutions. While classifying higher education into different types helps to diversify higher education, the stratification of higher education institutions (高校等级分层) will only produce the opposite effect. In order to ensure a well-functioning higher education system based on talent types, a modern and classification-based governance structure must be put in place. First, philosophically, an emphasis should be laid on education equality; students with different strengths should be able to enjoy the same opportunities. Second, technically, the stratification of higher education institutions must be abolished to build a more diversified governance structure. In the Decisions of the CPC Central Committee on Major Issues in Deepening the Reform in an All-round Way《中共中央关于全面深化改 ( 革若干重大问题的决定》 ) adopted in 2014, it was proposed that the State must “advance modernization in the State governance system and governance capability,” “separate government administration, school management, and educational evaluation, allowing educational authorities at provincial and school levels to enjoy greater autonomy,” and “gradually abolished the administrative ranks of schools.” These steps are opportunities for an improved higher education governance structure, and may lead to profound, and much-anticipated changes within the higher education system.

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Chapter 6

The Difficult Transformation of Independent Colleges Li Jianping* Abstract How to regulate the development of independent colleges is one of the major problems confronting China’s higher education. The Order No. 26 (第26号令) issued by the Ministry of Education (教育部) in 2008 requires a transformation of independent colleges in accordance with the standards of independently established regular colleges and universities within five years. Until the deadline of March 2013, 90% of the independent colleges in China had not completed their transformation due to political reasons or the difficulties schools encountered. It is suggested that schools should understand various interests and provide differentiated treatment to resolve the issues faced by independent colleges.

Keywords independent college – internal and external reasons – vital interests – policy recommendations

In the late 1990s, a large number of private-run secondary colleges (民办二 级学院) emerged out of the public regular higher education system. They were categorized as “independent colleges” in the documents issued by the Ministry of Education in 2003. Later in 2008, the Ministry of Education promulgated the Measures on the Establishment and Management of Independent Colleges 《独立学院设置与管理办法》 ( ) (hereinafter referred to as Order No. 26), requiring independent colleges to achieve independent legal person

* Li Jianping 李剑平, chief correspondent of China Youth Daily (中国青年报).

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2019 | doi:10.1163/9789004389021_007

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status, school facilities, finance, diploma issuance, and relatively independent organization and management of teaching activities within five years; Besides, colleges that fail to meet the standards will no longer be qualified to run schools. However, when it expired on March 31, 2013, only 23 out of the 292 independent colleges in China successfully turned into independent private-run colleges and universities, another eight of them were in the stage of investigation and public notification, while 90% of them failed to complete the transformation. 1

Reasons for the Hard Transition of Most Independent Colleges

Order No. 26 Is Not Enough to Reverse the Higher Education Landscape in Some Economically-Developed Provinces The vast majority of independent colleges are not independent in finance. Instead, they are often solely funded by public institutions of higher learning (公办高校). For example, 20 of Zhejiang’s 22 independent colleges have no other investors than their parent public universities. Half of Hubei’s 26 independent colleges do not have sponsors at all. Jiangsu Province approved the establishment of Wenzheng College of Suzhou University (苏州大学文正学 院) in as early as December 1998. Since then, the province gradually reduced the number of its independent colleges to 26 from a peak of 42, and only Taihu College of Jiangnan University (江南大学太湖学院) successfully transformed into Taihu University of Wuxi (无锡太湖学院). 1.1

Some Provisions in Order No. 26 Are Not in Harmony with the Reality of China’s Higher Education The most controversial provision is about the transfer of sponsors’ assets, which include no less than 500 acres of state-owned land use permits or construction land use permits. In 2013, China had a total of 2.75 million students in 292 independent colleges, 35 of which achieved the transformation into privaterun regular colleges and universities. Each of these 292 independent colleges covers an average area of 383,335.25 square meters. Of them 164 colleges cover an average area of more than 333,335 square meters, an increase of 55 colleges compared with the number in 2008. However, there are still 128 independent colleges that failed to meet the standard of a land coverage of 383,335.25 square meters. With decreasing enrollment and lack of land resources, the unreasonable rigid standard of a land coverage of 383,335.25 square meters should be adjusted. 1.2

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1.3 Unclear Assets Property (资产属性) of Independent Colleges Independent colleges lack precise positioning in China’s higher education system. Investors are worried about huge losses once the policy changes. Yet their parent universities (母体高校) believe that with tens of millions coming into their pockets every year, why not let it continue to exist? Since reform policies are incompatible with the reality, some pioneers in the transformation get thwarted everywhere, losing their institutional advantages as independent colleges, like the interlayer of a sandwich (上不着天, 下 不着地的“夹心层”). Its parent university refuses to lose vested interests and asks for considerable economic benefits by hook or by crook. Relevant Authorities Have Different Opinions on Asset Transfer Tax (资产过户税费) Standardized acceptance of an independent college requires investors to be responsible for asset transfer procedures and tax. However, investors are not willing to pay the tax, which amount to tens of millions. Currently, only Heilongjiang Province has reduced and exempted the asset transfer tax through local legislation. In many places, land, construction, and tax authorities have not reached a consensus on reduction and exemption of asset transfer tax.

1.4

2

Problems Standing in the Way of the Development of Most Independent Colleges

Independent Colleges Share a Homogenous Structure with Their Parent Universities, Leading to Low School-Running Quality and Lack of Competitive Edge Take a central province as an example. As many as 96.87% of the undergraduate programs offered in 20 independent colleges are similar to those in their parent universities. There are nearly 300 independent colleges nationwide, and 75% of them offer English programs, 71% provide Computer Technology programs, 62% have International Economy and Trade programs, and more than 40% offer such popular programs as Art and Design, Marketing, and Business Management. Independent colleges often find it difficult to attract senior teachers, and most of their teachers are master degree holders. In some independent colleges, once teachers are awarded with the title of Associate Professor, they would rather choose to “marry down” and work in vocational colleges only because they are public institutions. 2.1

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Independent colleges have lost their competitive edge. A new round of growth in the funding for higher education has widened the resource gap between independent colleges and public institutions of higher learning. In Shanghai, for example, money is the main reason for the shutoff of admission and even the closedown of independent colleges. Their per-student tuition is less than half of that in public institutions of higher learning,1 thus the quality of education is difficult to guarantee. Although some provinces allow a 50% increase in the tuition, independent colleges do not dare to raise it for the fear of losing students. Responsibilities, Rights, and Interests between the Host Colleges and Their Partners Are Unclear In some independent colleges, the board of directors is a mere formality, with no rules restricting or binding the rights of directors and the chairman. The relationships between sponsors, independent college hosts, and parent universities are also unclear. As a result, these colleges fail to ensure teaching quality, bringing great risk to student training and employment. Some independent colleges are so eager for profit and success that its chairman of the board directly intervenes in school running and financial management. Some independent colleges lack effective supervision on school finance. As a result, tuitions are embezzled by investors and become their source of income. And in some independent colleges, investors take a certain percentage of tuitions out after student registration at the end of September each year. 2.2

3

Dialectical Evaluation of the Past Merits and Demerits of Independent Colleges

Meeting the Practical Needs of the “Popularization of Higher Education” According to American scholar Martin Trow, a country’s higher education is at the stage of elite education if its gross enrollment ratio is below 15%; the stage of mass education if its gross enrollment ratio is between 15% and 50%; and the stage of universal education if its gross enrollment ratio is over 50%. When college entrance examination was restored in 1977, the gross 3.1

1  Li Jianping 李剑平, “shengji zhengfu tongchou defang dulixueyuan de quanli yu zeren jiangzengda 省级政府统筹地方独立学院的权力与责任将增大 [The Rights and Responsibilities of Provincial Government to Make Overall Planning for Local Independent Colleges will Increase],” China Youth Daily, April 25, 2014.

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enrollment ratio of higher education was only 1.5%. After 20 years of development, it only reached 9.1% in 1997, suggesting that social demand has fallen short of the development of higher education development. Since 1999, China’s higher education has been developing by leaps and bounds, accompanied by big enrollment expansion. Within the five to six years after 1999, the enrollment increased by five times and independent colleges came into being. As a special form of outward expansion of higher education resources, independent colleges developed rapidly in China. According to the statistics from the Development Planning Division of the Ministry of Education (教育部发展规划司), by 2001, China had 318 independent colleges with 1.866 million enrolled students; by the end of 2013, there were 292 independent colleges with 2.75 million enrolled students and educational assets totaling 200 billion Yuan. Independent colleges act as a “compression release valve” for higher education reform, with their undergraduate students accounting for 18% of the national total, and 28%, 29%, 33% in Guangdong, Zhejiang, and Hebei respectively, accelerating the popularization of higher education. If independent colleges are forced to close down in accordance with relevant rules when they fail to transform into independent private colleges and universities, the gross enrollment ratio of higher education in that province will drop right away. And if the one-size-fits-all Order No. 26 issued by the Ministry of Education is implemented in central and western China, some students will lose the opportunity to receive higher education, resulting in huge enrollment fluctuations in colleges and universities in central and western provinces. 3.2 Compensating for the Lack of Investment in Higher Education The emergence of independent colleges is related to the serious shortage of funds from the government. In Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, and some western provinces, it is not the wish of regular institutions of higher education to set up independent colleges. In fact, provincial finance is unable to afford the cost of so many higher education institutions. Thus, these universities have to rely on independent colleges to supplement its fund. Hubei Province is one of the provinces with the largest number of independent colleges. According to the statistics, the province’s education expenditure in 1999 was 6.802 billion Yuan, accounting for 1.76% of the province’s GDP, which is significantly lower than the national average of 2.75%. Per-capita education expenditure was 202.1 Yuan, ranking the 18th in the country; budgetary funds for regular higher education was 632 million Yuan, accounting for 12.55% of total budgetary funds for education. Joint establishment of independent colleges through attracting social funds can help relieve funding pressure.

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For example, China Three Gorges University (三峡大学) got stuck in the mire of debt when it was building its new campus. In order to relieve such debt burden, China Three Gorges University, Yichang Municipal Government, and Yichang Education Industry Development Company (宣昌教育实业开发总公 司) co-founded the College of Science and Technology of China Three Gorges University (三峡大学科技学院) in 2000. This independent college annually returns 100 million Yuan to its parent university and greatly relieved the difficulties its parent university faced at that time. Similar examples can also be found in Guizhou Province where independent colleges are meant for solving the lack of funds in public institutions of higher learning. In the early years after the founding of the Business College of Guizhou University of Finance and Economics (贵州财经学院商务学院), over 60% of its students were from other provinces, and it paid back 70 million to 100 million Yuan to its parent university each year.2 Mr. Lu Bin, Former President of the Medical and Technology School of Zunyi Medical College (遵义医学院医学与科技学院) said that if there is no independent college, the level of higher education in Guizhou would go back to the level of 20 years ago. Due to historical reasons, there are only a few colleges and universities in Fujian Province, and the campus area of many of them cannot meet the standards. In order to expand existing campuses and build new ones, the government introduced policy to establish independent colleges so as to pay back the loans for construction. Take a central province as an example. In this province, around 80% of the students who took part in college entrance examination were admitted by institutions of higher learning. To be specific, 40% of these students were admitted by colleges and universities, whereas the number of students admitted by independent colleges took up approximately one-third of those admitted by colleges and universities with four-year schooling. If the enrollment quota for independent colleges is all given to regular institutions of higher learning that admit students in the first and second batches, the provincial finance simply could not afford the cost. 3.3 Independent Colleges Boast Strong Profitability The establishment of independent colleges is largely driven by the lack of educational funds. Therefore, strong profitability is the most striking feature of 2  Li Jianping 李剑平, “‘xiaozhongxiao’: dulixueyuan fazhanguifan zuinankengutou “校中 校”: 独立学院发展规范最难啃骨头 [“Private Colleges Established in the Name of Public Universities”: The Biggest Challenge in The Development Of Independent Colleges],” China Youth Daily, April 30, 2014.

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independent colleges because of the required return on capital. The founders and actual decision-makers of most independent colleges are various investors such as real estate companies. Accompany group that focuses on investment in real estate, automobile, and education in northern China has invested in five independent colleges. In Hubei Province, an education center of China, two thirds of all its 26 independent colleges are founded by real estate companies and other investment companies and enterprises. Investors can acquire a large area of land for teaching at a low price, and enjoy preferential policies that enable them to use these lands for basic construction. The tuitions of independent colleges account for just a small fraction of their profits. The majority of their profits come from real estate development on the land, such as building apartments for teachers. After many years of development and operation, independent colleges have accumulated much more assets than their registered capital. Take an independent college in Hubei Province as an example. It has a total registered capital of 70 million Yuan at the very beginning, but the valuations of its overall assets are more than 700 million Yuan now. Most of its profits come from land appreciation and tuitions. In accordance with the school-running agreement, 30% of the intangible assets shall go to the pocket of its parent university, while the rest to private investors. Unfair Competition with Regular Private Institutions of Higher Learning (普通民办高校) Financed by public universities and charging fees in accordance with private mechanisms, the independent colleges known as private colleges established in the name of public universities (校中校), are often called “counterfeit private colleges” (假民办) and are often boycotted by private institutions of higher learning. The important reason behind this phenomenon is that independent colleges inherit good titles and abundant resources from their parent universities. It enables them to enjoy an advantageous position in market competition and constantly crowd out those genuine private institutions of higher learning. Independent colleges derive profits not only from their investors, but also from the public institutions of higher learning they are affiliated to. These colleges, once granted qualifications to enroll students, become a source of income for their parent universities. The majority of the 25 independent colleges in Jiangsu Province are funded by their parent universities. Another ten secondary colleges do not even have their own accounts. As stipulated in the Order No. 26 of the Ministry of Education, qualified regular institutions of higher learning can set up only one independent college. However, universities such as Nanjing University of Science (南京理工大学), Nanjing Normal University 3.4

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(南京师范大学), Suzhou University (苏州大学), Zhejiang University (浙江大 学), Wenzhou University (温州大学), Fujian Normal University (福建师范大 学), Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University (福建农林大学), Shandong University of Finance and Economics (山东财经大学), Huazhong University of Science and Technology (华中科技大学), Hubei University of Technology (湖北工业大学), Yangtze University (长江大学), Sun Yat-sen University (中 山大学), Chongqing Technology and Business University (重庆工商大学), Sichuan Normal University (四川师范大学), Sichuan University (四川大学), Guizhou University (贵州大学), Yunnan University (云南大学), and Yunnan Normal University (云南师范大学) have all set up two independent colleges. Their motivation is self-evident. 5

Policy Recommendations for the Reform of Independent Colleges

Due to the lack of a development plan by the government, these independent colleges were set up primarily to accommodate the growing demand for higher education. Nowadays, however, parents are increasingly concerned about the education quality of independent colleges, hoping that their children can truly learn something. But the education quality of most independent colleges is far from being satisfactory. Such poor education quality has exerted a negative impact on parents and students. Therefore, it is imperative to improve higher education governance, and enhance the management of independent colleges. Further Elaborate and Refine the Quality Assessment Standards for Independent Colleges Independent colleges are the vanguards for the reform of higher education in China and are relevant to all households. If the Order No. 26 of the Ministry of Education were to be strictly implemented, over 40% of independent colleges will probably be closed down, suspended, merged with others, or transformed (关停并转). So it is a highly complicated and sensitive issue. Whatever setbacks we will encounter in the implementation of the Order No. 26, we must guarantee students’ right to learn. The Leading Party Group of the Ministry of Education (教育部党组) believes that it is necessary to set the evaluation standards and work mechanism in a more scientific manner to enable them to keep up with the times while respecting the history and acknowledging the achievements. The Development Planning Division of the Ministry of Education (教育部发展 规划司) is currently working with Tianjin College of University of Science 5.1

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& Technology of Beijing (北京科技大学天津学院), Renai College of Tianjin University (天津大学仁爱学院), and Pearl River College of Tianjin University of Finance and Economics (天津财经大学珠江学院) to implement evaluation pilot programs, with the aim of elaborating the evaluation rules and improving the quality evaluation of independent colleges. Remove the Barriers to the Transformation of Independent Colleges in Classified Ways Due to the difference in funding channel and management mechanisms, independent colleges should be treated in a differentiated manner. A few options are provided as follows: with government support, independent colleges may reduce enrollment and turn into local regular public colleges and universities; they may continue to work with local governments to develop in a regulated way; they may turn into private colleges and universities; they may also join hands with foreign education institutions. Those substandard “private colleges established in the name of public universities” (“校中校”) should be banned and those with poor teaching quality should also be closed down. 1. Some independent colleges are jointly established by local governments and public institutions of higher learning. They do not have private investors. Therefore, it is inappropriate to transform them into either public schools or private ones. Independent colleges such as Ningbo Institute of Technology of Zhejiang University (浙江大学宁波理工学院), City College of Zhejiang University (浙江大学城市学院), Zhongshan Institute of University of Electronic Science and Technology (电子科技大学中山学院), and Beijing Normal University Zhuhai (北师大珠海分校) have been running well before the introduction of the Order No. 26. Some have even outperformed certain local colleges and universities. It is a mistake to classify them as independent colleges. It is suggested that while maintaining the original source of funds, these colleges adopt a new public-running model and be administered in the same fashion as other institutions of higher education under the direct jurisdiction of provincial authorities. 2. Attention should also be paid to independent colleges established solely by regular institutions of higher learning and those set up jointly by regular institutions of higher learning and state-owned enterprises. In order to develop the independent college entitled Yuanpei College of Shaoxing University (绍兴文 理学院元培学院) into the city’s second regular college with four-year schooling, Shaoxing Municipal Government granted lands to the college for the building of a new campus. Besides, 25% of the revenues Yuanpei College offering to its parent university Shaoxing University is now covered by the city’s fiscal budget. At the same time, Haining, Tongxiang, Zhuji, Fuyang, and other 5.2

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economically developed cities and counties in Zhejiang Province are cooperating with the institutions of higher learning within the province to establish independent colleges and develop these independent colleges into local regular institutions of higher learning. 3. Establishing “private colleges in the name of public universities” is another problem. These private colleges have been opposed by general public since their emergence. Now they are “returning” to their parent universities as public second-class colleges. But this is not the case. In fact, in doing so, they can be entitled to the financial grants of parent universities and at the same time charging the same high fees as in independent colleges. A large number of private institutions of higher education wish these schools to be regulated: they must either turn solely public or private; otherwise, they should be transferred to new investors or closed down. In accordance with the Order No. 26, those private schools should either return to their parent universities, or be relocated and privatized by new investors. Straighten Out the Relations among Various Interest Groups in Independent Colleges First, the relationships between the investors, organizers, board of directors, and the colleges should be straightened out. When it comes to issues related to core interests, contradictions are often seen among different policies and regulations. In accordance with the Order No. 26, the sponsors of independent colleges are entitled to a reasonable portion of school revenues by following the standards and procedures set forth in the Regulations on the Implementation of the Law on Promotion of Privately-run Schools 《民办教育促进法实施条 ( 例》) and other relevant regulations. However, this document does not clarify how much a “reasonable portion” is. Some provinces proposed the principle of “those who invest get the benefits” in accordance with the Company Law of the People’s Republic of China 《中华人民共和国企业法》 ( ) and the Property Law of the People’s Republic of China 《中华人民共和国物权法》 ( ). Due to declining investment expectations and the failure to materialize such expectations, some investors have sought to sell these colleges. Others even try to circumvent the regulations of education administrative departments on major changes of independent colleges through changes in equity premiums (股权溢价). Investors feel cheated. When the financiallyconstrained local government reached out to them for investment in establishing independent colleges, they were promised a certain amount of return. However, now the governments have become rich, they 5.3

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fail to honor their promise. What is worse, they have painted those investors as selfish “Grandet” (葛朗台). The second issue pertains to the registered identity of independent colleges. In Guangdong, Hubei, Chongqing, and many other provinces, independent colleges are registered as private, non-business institutions (民办非企业 单位) in accordance with the Regulations on the Implementation of the Law on Promotion of Privately-run Schools. Among the eight independent colleges in Guizhou Province, only one is registered as public institution while the other seven as private, non-business institutions. The only exception is Zhejiang Province, where all independent colleges are registered as public institutions under the coordination of the Zhejiang Provincial Government. Registering independent colleges as private, non-business institutions has led to various finance issues such as taxation problems. In particular, the staff in these schools are entitled to much less social and medical insurance than their counterparts in public institutions, which is the main reason for the high turnover rate in independent colleges. In some independent colleges, it is forbidden to talk about the status of the staff inside the school, or to disclose relevant information to outsiders. Independent colleges and their parent universities disagree on dissociation fees. Some independent colleges believe these fees to be unnecessary, for they have been paying administrative fees to their parent universities for many years. They hope the Ministry of Education can release guiding principles to address this issue. However, some parent universities argue that having invested heavily into the intangible assets of independent colleges such as brand, faculty, and management, they have every reason to charge compensation fees. According to Guo Chunming, Deputy Director of the Development Planning Division of the Ministry of Education, at the very beginning of the establishment of independent colleges, the Ministry was neither the “introducer” nor “marriage witness.” Now the Ministry is not the referee and would not take sides. If both sides want to terminate the cooperation agreements, they can negotiate with each other in accordance with the Contract Law of the People’s Republic of China (中华人民共和国合同法) and bear the corresponding liability for breach of contract. Delegate the Authority and Responsibility of Developing Independent Colleges to Provincial Governments Some independent colleges and scholars suggest that the top-level design be led by the State Council and conducted by the Ministry of Education, Ministry 5.4

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of Finance, State Administration of Taxation (国家税务局), State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (国资委), and National Reform and Development Commission (发改委), and the authority and responsibility to formulate transformation measures and further develop independent colleges be delegated to provincial governments. The Development Planning Division of the Ministry of Education believes that the development of independent colleges should be considered together with the transformation of local institutions of higher learning. Provincial governments should play their role to optimize the structure of higher education in an overall manner. To achieve this end, investigation and research should be the first step, and scientific planning the second. Only by so doing will the process be gradually finished.

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Chapter 7

Reform of Policies on “Admission to Junior High Schools” in Beijing Liu Jing* Abstract In 2014, Beijing Municipal Government launched a series of new policies on admission to junior high schools. In contrast to previous years, these policies were most strictly implemented and achieved initial results. Through an analysis of policies on admission to junior high schools in Beijing City, each of its district, and each of its county as well as relevant survey results, this paper systematically summarized the characteristics of policies on admission to junior high schools in Beijing, and comprehensively concluded the specific representations of the “new normal” of examinationfree nearby enrollment of compulsory Education in Beijing. With these endeavors, the author puts forward suggestions to further promote the reform and achieve an equal, just, transparent, balanced, excellent, diverse, and innovative compulsory education.

Keywords compulsory education – balanced development – admission to junior high schools (Xiao Sheng Chu) – Beijing

Since the promulgation of the Outline of China’s National Plan for Medium and Long-term Education Reform and Development: 2010–2020 《国家中长期教育 ( 改革和发展规划纲要（2010–2020年） 》 ) in 2010, equality and balance have again become the two main subjects of China’s compulsory education development. Right at the beginning of 2014, Mr. Yuan Guiren, Minister of Education, pointed out in his speech at 2014 National Education Work Conference (2014 * Liu Jing 刘靖, teaching assistant and doctor of Graduate School of International Development, Nagoya University (日本名古屋大学国际开发研究生院). Her main research interests are education policies of developing countries and the balanced development of compulsory education in China.

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2019 | doi:10.1163/9789004389021_008

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年全国教育工作会) that, “fairness and justice are the essence of socialism. Equal access to education is an important basis for social fairness. We need to brain storm and do more concrete work to guarantee equal access to education, view institutions and mechanisms from the perspective of education fairness, re-evaluate policies and measures, and continuously facilitate equal access to education through adjustment of rules and institutional innovation.”1 Various cities in China have successively introduced work plans on implementing the examination-free nearby enrollment for compulsory education and put forward targeted policies, timetables, and roadmaps to further improve the examination-free nearby enrollment. Through a systematic analysis of 2014 new policies on admission to junior high schools in Beijing, this paper introduces the new effects and the “new normal” of the reform of the policies on admission to junior high schools at the compulsory education stage in China’s capital.

1

New Requirements of the Ministry of Education on Examinationfree Nearby Enrollment for Compulsory Education in Urban Areas

At the beginning of 2014, the Ministry of Education successively promulgated the Implementation Opinions on Making Further Efforts to Replace the Examination-based Enrollment of Junior High Schools with Nearby Enrollment ( 《关于进一步做好小学升入初中免试就近入学工作的实施意见》 ) and the Notice of the Office of the Ministry of Education on Making Further Efforts to Replace the Examination-based Enrollment of Compulsory Education with Nearby Enrollment in Key Big Cities 《教育部办公厅关于进一步做好重点大 ( 城市义务教育免试就近入学工作的通知》 ) in order to further regulate the behaviors of admission to junior high schools in key big cities2 and promote the balanced development of compulsory education. These two documents, which systematically provide specific provisions on the enrollment scope, target students, admission procedures, standards, and information disclosure 1  Yuan Guiren 袁贵仁, “Shenhuajiaoyulingyuzonghegaige, jiakuaituijinjiaoyuzhilitixi he zhilinenglixiandaihua 深化教育领域综合改革加快推进教育治理体系和智力能力现 代化 [Deepen Comprehensive Reform in Education Field, Accelerate the Modernization of Education Governance System and Governance Capacity],” Speech at 2014 National Education Work Conference. Available on the website of the Ministry of Education, People’s Republic of China (January 15, 2014). 2  Key big cities refer to municipalities directly under the Central Government, sub-provincial capital cities, and cities specifically designated in the state plan. According to the summary made on the first page of China Education Daily (February 18, 2014 edition), there are 19 key big cities, namely, Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chongqing, Harbin, Changchun, Shenyang, Dalian, Jinan, Qingdao, Xi’an, Nanjing, Ningbo, Hangzhou, Wuhan, Xiamen, Shenzhen, and Chengdu. Dongping Yang - 978-90-04-38902-1 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 11:15:48AM via free access

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figure 7.1 Timetable for nearby enrolment for compulsory education in key big cities

of compulsory education, can be rated as China’s most detailed government explanations and guiding opinions on “nearby enrollment” and relevant types of admission since the promulgation of the Compulsory Education Law ( 《义务教育法》 ). Besides, the documents also provide the roadmap and timetable for China’s key big cities to further standardize the improvement of examination-free nearby enrollment for compulsory education (the stage of admission to junior high schools). See Figure 7.1. The Ministry of Education expressly requires various key big cities to realize designation of enrollment area and nearby enrollment in over 95% junior high schools by 2017 through formulating and implementing work plans on examination-free nearby enrollment for compulsory education between 2014 and 2017. 2

Main Measures of the New Policies on 2014 “Admission to Junior High Schools” in Beijing

In 2014, Beijing Municipal Education Commission, through a series of endeavors and innovations, improved the rules on admission to junior high schools, actively implemented the school district system and enrollment for nineyear schooling by adjusting the designated school districts, uniformly used the primary and secondary school enrollment service system to manage students’ enrollment status, and clearly defined the scope of violations. Through an analysis of relevant policy documents introduced by Beijing Municipal Education Commission, the author has summarized the characteristics and problems of this year’s policies on admission to junior high schools in Beijing as follows. Dongping Yang - 978-90-04-38902-1 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 11:15:48AM via free access

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2.1 Establish Two Electronic Platforms In the Opinions on 2014 Enrollment Work, Beijing Municipal Education Commission specially underscored the importance of enrollment status management, and established two electronic platforms, namely, “electronic enrollment status” and “junior high school enrollment service system.” Each school-age child gets one number, by which schools get the “list of students in the designated enrollment area” as the basis for enrollment in primary schools. The uniform junior high school enrollment service system keeps a record of the whole process of enrollment channels and ways of each student. This system can also help education administrative departments predict and understand the number and distribution of school-age children. In particular, it provides a means to collect data on the children of migrant workers in Beijing, of which the number is not clear. Besides, the system can also monitor cross-district choice of schools. This is conducive to further promoting the implementation of nearby enrollment. 2.2 Further Define the Designated Area for Nearby Enrollment Through an analysis of the number of school-age students, school distribution, school scale, and transportation conditions of various districts and counties, we should define the service scope of various school districts and implement the policy of designation of primary schools for each junior high school and the policy of designation of the same enrollment area for multiple junior high schools to ensure nearby enrollment. The policy of designation of primary schools for each junior high school refers to the direct admission of students from the designated primary schools. In other words, one junior high school admits all graduates from the primary schools in the designated area. The policy of designation of the same enrollment area for multiple junior high schools refers to the practice of collecting students’ applications first and directly admitting students for those junior high schools with less applications than the planned enrollment quota. And for junior high schools with more applications than the planned enrollment quota, random allocation is used to determine students. Abolish Admission of Children of the Employees of Big Enterprises that Have Signed Joint Development Agreement with Junior High Schools to Boost Education Equality One highlight of 2014 admission to junior high schools in Beijing is the absence of admission of children of the employees of big enterprises that have signed joint development agreement with junior high schools in the opinions on enrollment work by municipal education commission for the first time. This 2.3

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measure represents the efforts Beijing Municipal Education Commission makes to vigorously boost education equality as well as its determination and wish to cancel education privilege. It has provided strong policy guarantee for boosting equal access to compulsory education in China’s capital. 2.4 Standardize the Admission Work of Pupils with Special Talent In 2014, the Ministry of Education put forward the work target of gradually reducing the number of schools admitting pupils with special talent and the percentage of pupils with special talent. Although Beijing Municipal Education Commission did not specify in the document the percentage of pupils with special talent, in principle only students with exceptional performance in sports, arts, and technology are allowed to be admitted by schools approved by the municipal education commission in certain districts and counties. Admission of pupils with special talent in any other name shall be deemed as a violation of laws. In 2014, various districts posted strict restriction on cross-district flow of pupils with special talent. Dongcheng, Haidian, and Fengtai districts had expressly put forward the principle of choosing pupils with special talent within the district in their policy documents on “admission to junior high schools.” In comparison, Xicheng, Chaoyang, and Shijingshan did not explicitly put forward the principle of forbidding cross-district flow in the wording of their relevant policy documents. Therefore, in practice, these districts have the possibility of admitting pupils with special talent from other districts. Break the Enrollment Work of Non-Beijing Native School-Age Children into Details In consideration of their family background, Beijing Municipal Education Commission divides non-Beijing native school-age children into three categories. First, same-city treatment category. School-age children possessing such proof as the Instrument of Ratification for Study of the Children of Taiwan Compatriots 《台胞子女就读批准书》 ( ) issued by district or county education commissions, or the Letter of Introduction for Children of Postdoctoral Research Fellow 《博士后研究人员子女介绍信》 ( ) and their parent’s Letter of Entrance ( 《进站函》 ) issued by National Post-doctor Regulatory Commission (全国博士 后管理部门), or proof of army dependents (随军家属证明) and serviceman certificate (现役军人证件) issued by division (brigade)-level political department in the army, or the Letter of Certificate on Receipt of Compulsory Education in Beijing by Children of Overseas Chinese 《华侨子女来京接受义务教育证明 ( 2.5

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) issued by the overseas Chinese affairs departments in districts or counties 信》 enjoy the same rights in the “admission to junior high schools” as their native Beijing counterparts. Second, policy coordination category. In accordance with relevant rules, the school attendance of children of overseas returnees under the talent introduction program of people’s governments above district or county level shall be settled through coordination by district or county education commissions. Targets of coordination also include children of those working in higher education institutions, research institutes, and Beijing Railway System (北京 铁路系统). Enrollment work of these students can be carried out in accordance with relevant agreements, or in accordance with the conditions determined by the school for children of employees established by their parents’ employers. Third, complete five certificates category. For school attendance of children of regular non-Beijing native migrant workers, Beijing Municipal Education Commission requires their parents or other legal guardians to submit to the sub-district offices or township people’s governments of their residence relevant materials, including their employment certificate in Beijing (在京务工就 业证明), actual proof of residence in Beijing (在京实际住所居住证明), household register (全家户口簿), temporary residence permit in Beijing (在京暂住 证), and non-guardianship certificate in local place (在当地没有监护条件的证 明) issued by the sub-district office or township people’s governments of their registered permanent residence. After examination, these children can participate in school-age population information collection and attend the school determined by district or county education commissions of the residence. This practice has resulted in the different enrollment treatment for students from different family backgrounds among non-native students in Beijing. Thus, it stands in the way of the realization of fair “admission to junior high schools,” and could be a transitional means in the new policy transitional period of each district and county. Two Computer-generated Waiting Lists under the Principle of Nearby Enrollment Compared with enrolling students from a computer-generated waiting list under the principle of nearby enrollment in previous years, in 2014 all districts have implemented computer-generated waiting list twice. Each district adjusts its education resource allocation and ways to distribute computer-generated waiting list in light of their own education resources and population. Some districts supplemented the enrollment quota used for children of the employees of big enterprises that have signed joint development agreement with 2.6

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junior high schools to the computer-generated waiting list under the principle of nearby enrollment, so as to satisfy parents’ urgent needs for quality education resources. In the meantime, we are also confronted with some problems and challenges in implementing the policy of computer-generated waiting list under the principle of nearby enrollment. The first computer-generated waiting list in each district can be understood as a transformation of “recommending high achievers.” The difference is, this allows all students to participate. Apart from some outstanding kids with good comprehensive quality, only some students that are lucky enough can attend schools with premium resources in this round of “selection.” Although this seems to have given all school-age children an opportunity to enjoy premium education resources, in essence it is a process of “accompanying the crown prince to study.” Compared to the first computer-generated waiting list, the second computer-generated waiting list in most districts is a measure of guarantee. In other words, it is meant to guarantee that every school-age child can attend school in their respective school district. 2.7 Specify the Scope of Violations Compared with previous years, the opinions on the work of “admission to junior high schools” in Beijing in 2014 explicitly elaborated on the content of various violations. In particular, the document underscored the prohibition of the ways of selecting schools adopted by public schools in previous years. This measure has provided policy guarantee for prohibiting school selection and promoting fair and just enrollment in compulsory education schools. Besides, Beijing Municipal Education Commission also issued “the strictest ban on school selection in history,” namely, Provisions on Implementing Strict Disciplines in the Enrollment of the Compulsory Education Stage 《关于在义务 ( 教育阶段入学工作中严明纪律的若干规定》 ), covering all aspects of enrollment against rules that would possibly appear at the compulsory education stage.3 3  “Beijing ‘shishangzuiyanzexiaojinling’ fabu: ‘yiqianzexiao’ ‘yi fen ze sheng’‘yiquanruxue’ jinnianxiuyi” 北京“史上最严择校禁令”发布：“以钱择校”“以分择生”“以权入学”今年休 矣 [The “Strictest School Selection Injunction in Beijing’s History” Was Issued: Practices of “School Selection with Money,” “Student selection with Scores,” and “School Selection with Authority” Will All Be Forbidden],” Modern Education News 《现代教育报》 ( ), May 21, 2014. “Beijing 15 tiao jinling yanguan zhongxiaoxue zhaosheng: weigui zhaoshengxuexiao jiang quanshi tongbao baoguang 北京15条禁令严管中小学招生：违规招生学校将全市通报 曝光 [Beijing Government Issued 15 Injunctions to Strictly Control Enrollment by Primary and Secondary Schools: Name-and-Shame Measures Will be Pledged on Schools if They Are Caught Violating These Enrollment Injunctions],” Beijing Times《京华时报》 ( ), May 21, 2014.

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2.8 Policies on “Admission to Junior High Schools” in Various Districts Through a summary and comparison of the policies on “admission to junior high schools” in various districts, the author finds that on the whole, the policies on “admission to junior high schools” in various districts in 2014 were consistent with the work opinions of Beijing Municipal Education Commission. There were basically more or less eight ways of admissions and the number was quite stable (See Table 7.1) Through integration and adjustment of the education resources in various districts and establishment of nearby enrollment with school districts as unit and enrollment in nine-year education schools (including coherent transition from primary schools to junior high schools), the service coverage of the premium education resources in Beijing has been TABLE 7.1

A summary of the ways of “admission to junior high schools” in the core functional districts and city function expansion districts of Beijing in 2014

Way of admission

1. Pupils with Special Talent 2. Nearby Enrollment 3. Nine-year System 4. Boarding System 5. Preference in the Same Conditions Same Treatment as Local 6. NonResidents native Policy Beijing Residents Coordination Migrant Workers 7. Enrollment by Private Schools 8. Special Education

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Source of data: Summarized on the basis of the opinions on the work of “admission to junior high schools” in the core functional districts and city function expansion districts of Beijing in 2014.

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further expanded. Because of this, more parents and school-age children are provided with the opportunity to enjoy premium education resources. 3

Evaluations on the Reform of “Admission to Junior High Schools” in Beijing in 2014

Through a series of “combination blows” including policy adjustment, technical means, and resource expansion, simultaneous dredging and blocking, as well as establishment and abolishment, Beijing Municipality has changed the backward landscape of selecting junior high schools, and basically realized the objective of nearby enrollment. According to the statistics of Beijing Municipal Education Commission, in 2014, 76.82% of the students in the junior high schools in Beijing was admitted through nearby enrollment, 5.92% of the students live in schools, 6.75% of the students have special talent, 8.47% of the students attend private schools, and 2.04% of the students attend schools in other ways. The number of students admitted by junior high schools through nearby enrollment in six districts of Beijing Municipality take up 74.01% of all the students admitted by junior high schools. In comparison, the survey conducted in 2011 shows that only 57% of the students in the same school district of the same city were admitted by junior high schools in accordance with the nearby enrollment policy. Compared to 2011, the ratio of students admitted by junior high schools through nearby enrollment in 2014 has increased by about 20%. Regarding the new policies on admission to junior high schools in Beijing in 2014, what are the comments of parents and schools that have taken part in the enrollment work? According to the survey jointly conducted by The 21st Century Education Research Institute (21世纪教育研究院) and Tencent Education, more than half (52.73%) of the parents who participated in the survey believe that compared to the previous year, the chaotic selection of junior high schools in Beijing has improved. Of all the respondents, 63.55% believe that the implementation of the new policies on “admission to junior highs schools” in Beijing this year has been “effective” (including “very effective,” “quite effective,” and “effective but not obvious”). Of the 2,255 parents who participated in the survey, 619 experienced the 2014 admission work of junior highs schools in Beijing. And 43.86% of them are satisfied with the junior high schools their children attend (including “very effective” and “quite effective”). With regard to the specific measures of the new policies on admission to junior high schools in Beijing, 45.94% of the parents believe that the “prohibition of using the results of

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various competitions, awards, and certificates as enrollment basis” is highly effective. Around 40% of the parents hold that cancelling admission of children of the employees of big enterprises that have signed joint development agreement with junior high schools, abolishing the selection of students, and activation of the primary and secondary school enrollment service system to monitor the whole process of enrollment are effective. Only 23% of the parents acknowledge the measures of “expanding quality education resources and developing new quality schools.” This reflects that parents are straddling the fence with regard to the effects of expanding the service coverage of quality education resources in various districts. Regarding the problems in the new policies of admission to junior high schools in Beijing this year, 48.52% of the parents think that relevant information about the admission work of junior high schools is not transparent enough. Respondents holding that “there are still renowned schools that hold examinations secretly and recruit students through interviews” account for 45.10% and those believing that “non-native students are disadvantaged when it comes to the right of attending schools” take up 41.73%. Around 1/3 of the respondents hold that “classes provided by training institutions under some public junior high schools or jointly run by public junior high schools and social training institutions as well as selective admission still exist” and that “some school-district houses” are still astonishingly expensive. After paying visits to some schools, the author has learned the comments and views of some school administrators and front-line teachers regarding 2014 new policies on admission to junior high schools in Beijing. Challenges for Teaching Brought about by the Change of Prospective Students Most of the respondents acknowledge the attitudes on and measures about the nearby enrollment principle implemented in 2014 new policies on admission to junior high schools in Beijing. Just like what a school principal said, “I no longer need to consider how many students the school should admit. Any number assigned by the system will be supported by the district.” In this way, those ordinary junior high schools are able to admit high quality students through nearby enrollment. Changes in the quality of students will provide impetus and hope for schools to improve their education and teaching quality. In the meantime, some schools that were able to select excellent students through various channels in previous years are confronted with new challenges in education and teaching. First, with the restriction on selecting schools, the number of students admitted by renowned schools through 3.1

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nearby enrollment will significantly reduce compared to the previous years, leading to a reduced number of classes and a smaller number of students in each grade. Thus, how to carry out small-class teaching will become a challenge for some renowned schools. Second, diversification of prospective students requires teachers to change their ways of teaching. The teachers of some renowned schools are used to teaching students who are more or less equally developed in all aspects. However, with the diversification of prospective students caused by the policy of nearby enrollment, some special-grade senior teachers (特级教师) and subject leaders are confronted with the challenge of “how to teach.” And some traditionally renowned schools are confronted with the task of achieving “perfect transformation” from research-oriented teaching to basic teaching. Besides, with the increase of quality public education resources within the region and the implementation of nearby enrollment, the private junior high schools in some urban districts are faced with enrollment difficulties. For example, a private junior high school the author visited planned to open six classes. But it only admitted students enough for opening four classes. This has not only affected the income and operation of the schools, but also undermined its education and teaching quality. Therefore, it might need more comprehensive consideration and overall planning to further support and promote the development of private schools while establishing high-quality public schools and maintaining their balanced development. Cancel Admission of Children of the Employees of Big Enterprises that Have Signed Joint Development Agreement with Junior High Schools. “Policy Coordination Students” Emerge A major highlight of 2014 new policies on admission to junior high schools in Beijing is the cancellation of admission of children of the employees of big enterprises that have signed joint development agreement with junior high schools and say “no” to education privilege. Most respondents also give positive comments on this measure. But in the meantime, the wording of “solution through coordination” can be found in the implementation opinions of either the municipal education commission or various districts and counties. Such flexibility is meant to accommodate the needs of the children of cadres stationed in other countries or sent to provide foreign aid as well as men and women in uniform. Facing this “change,” some school principals have also expressed their frustration and helplessness. Although schools are not allowed to sign joint development agreement with any enterprise, some respondents see this change as “the new normal of education privilege,” and hold that the present “parachute acceptance” is even less equal than submitting joint 3.2

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development fees in the past. As all respondents agree, in Beijing, a city with huge superstructure and interest groups, it requires not only courage, but also time and wisdom to solve this problem through coordination in a fair and just manner. Problems Brought about by Prohibition of Cross-District School Attendance for Pupils with Special Talent Most respondents believe that the implementation of prohibition of crossdistrict admission of pupils with special talent has positive effects on the control of cross-district flow of students. In the meantime, some schools that have approval from the municipal education commission to accept students with various kinds of special talent are also concerned about reducing the percentage of enrolled students with special talent and prohibiting cross-district enrollment. First, the policy will bring about influences to the characteristic education of schools. In particular, such group programs as symphony programs can only admit enough students through cross-district enrollment. Besides, in accordance with the target of the Ministry of Education and Beijing Municipal Education Commission to gradually reduce the number of schools that are allowed to admit pupils with special talent and the proportion of students with special talent, it is highly likely that students with special skills would no longer be admitted by junior high schools in a few years. With Gaokao reform and the reform of senior high school entrance examination, preferential policies such as the policy of giving extra points to students with special talent will also be abolished. When special talent can no longer exchange extra points, how will parents and students see special talent education? When pupils with special talent are no longer an important source of students for schools to compete for, how will the education commission and schools continue to carry out special talent education? These are urgent issues that all people should think about. 3.3

The Ideal and Reality of Expanding and Integrating Quality Education Resources An important prerequisite of the new policies on admission to junior high schools in Beijing is the implementation of a series of measures to expand the coverage of quality education resources. Various districts and counties have taken such measures as promotion of integrated education mechanism in quality schools, implementation of school-district system and consistent enrollment for nine years, and designation of the enrollment quota for quality senior high schools in junior high schools within the region, to improve the mechanism for communication between principals and 3.4

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teachers, establish the mechanism to expand the coverage of quality education resources through the use of information, increase quality education resources, adjust the allocation of resources among different schools, in different school districts, and within a region. These endeavors have satisfied various parties’ urgent needs for quality education resources. For example, Dongcheng District of Beijing Municipality has relied on indepth alliances between schools to develop nine-year schools and establish a quality education resource system consisting of a chain of quality education resources. Because of this, its nearby enrollment ratio reached 88.4% this year, higher than the municipal average of 76.82%. To be specific, as many as 73.36% of the students attended junior high schools with quality education resources, an increase of 45.8% compared to 2013.4 It is found through visits that most school administrators and teachers have a positive attitude towards the reform. In the meantime, some districts and counties that are lack of quality education resources are taking the initiative to attract quality resources from other regions. Fengtai District is a case in point. It established 20 schools by attracting quality education resources form other regions. Shijingshan District and Chaoyang District are also following its example to attract renowned schools to set up new campuses. 3.5 The Issue of Further Education for Non-native Students in Beijing By paying visits to schools, the author finds that in 2014, the number of nonnative students in schools in Beijing has slighted decreased. Respondents spoke bluntly that this might have a direct correlation with Beijing’s strict population control and the promulgation of the Work Plan for the Children of Migrant Workers to Take Part in Entry Examinations to Schools in Beijing after Finishing Compulsory Education 《进城务工人员随迁子女接受义务教育后 ( 在京参加升学考试工作方案》 ). Due to the strict examination of “the five certificates” among non-native parents in Beijing, some non-native children are denied access to schools in Beijing, and some parents decide to give up the opportunity for their children to receive education in Beijing because the education is not continuous.

4  “Beijing Dongcheng tuijin yiwu jiaoyu zonghe gaige pojie ‘xiaoshengchu’ nanti 北京东城推 进义务教育综合改革破解“小升初”难题 [Dongcheng District of Beijing Pushed Forward the Comprehensive Reform of Compulsory Education to Address the Difficulty of “Admission to Junior High Schools],” China Youth Daily, November 5, 2014.

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Challenges Confronting Beijing in Deepening the Reform of “Admission to Junior High Schools”

By analyzing the 2014 policies on admission to junior high schools in Beijing from four aspects, namely, strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat, we have arrived at the following SWOT analysis. See Table 7.2. TABLE 7.2 SWOT analysis of 2014 policies on admission to junior high schools in Beijing

Internal

Strengths

Weaknesses

– Abolish admission of children of the employees of big enterprises that have signed joint development agreement with junior high schools to boost education equality; – Integrate quality education resources and establish new schools with quality resources; – Introduce detailed provisions on nearby enrollment; – Regulate admission of pupils with special talent, and restrict cross-district enrollment; – Import the student registration system and control the enrollment process to minimize the influences brought about by human factors; – Provide various registration choices to facilitate school running in various ways.

– The first computer-generated waiting list and recommendation of outstanding students in nearby enrollment still exist; – Ways of registration for non-native students in Beijing become more detailed, leading to level-based differentiated education; – It is still possible to choose schools according to the privileged admission for pupils with special talent; – Education resources are unevenly distributed among regions; – Policy coordination might lead to new education privilege; – The management and utilization of new quality education resources (especially teachers); – The abundant governmentfunded quality education resources will affect the enrollment and survival of private schools.

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TABLE 7.2 SWOT analysis of 2014 policies on admission to junior high schools (cont.)

External

Opportunities

Threats

– Anti-corruption campaigns will help boost education equality; – Balanced development of compulsory education will help ease the craze for school selection; – The Gaokao reform and the reform of senior high school entrance examination will influence the way of further education; – Help reduce the burden for students receiving quality education, and facilitate the reform of the student evaluation system.

– Balanced education development in one region will lead to a widening gap between public schools in different regions; – Policies on the mobility of immigrant population affect the continuity and fairness of the education for non-native students in Beijing; – Government-funded compulsory education characterized by coexistence of popularization and selection; – Boycott the mobility system for teachers and principals.

Reform of the admission to junior high schools is a system reform instead of a simple reform of further education policies. It needs the whole social system and education system to make corresponding adjustment and innovation. We must be keenly aware of the influences of the political, economic, and social contexts, break the pattern of interests formed in history, and return to the true essence of compulsory education through “de-elitism” and “de-utilitarianism.” Various problems still exist in ensuring the balanced development of compulsory education and implementing the reform of the ways of enrollment. For example, some old education ideas aimed at selecting top students still persist. Perhaps we need to continue to reduce the percentage of students in the first computer-generated waiting list to eventually realize one-off computer-generated waiting list participated by all students and materialize nearby enrollment in the true sense. Further regulations should be introduced and standards made clearer for enrollment through policy coordination and enrollment by boarding schools so as to avoid the re-emergence of privileges and exceptions. Besides, education information should be made more transparent. Information such as admission information, funds of public schools, distribution of teachers, enrollment scope, enrollment plan, admission results, and evaluation results of school districts should be disclosed.

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We need to expand regional quality education resources through such ways as school alliance, school district system, and education group. Some districts and counties in Beijing even integrate and optimize education resources through such ways as introduction of renowned schools and invitation of higher education institutions, research institutes, and theatre troupes to primary and secondary schools. By introducing renowned schools and having them renamed, schools can meet the urgent needs of parents and the public for quality education resources. However, the reform needs to be further deepened, more arduous and in-depth work should be done, and monitoring and evaluation from education management authorities are needed in order to realize the connotation development of schools, enhance the education and teaching quality, improve the education and teaching management in schools, and nurture high-quality teachers. Apart from this, protecting and inheriting the fixed culture and history of the original school is also something we need to focus on while proceeding with the school reform. Moreover, there are also new challenges such as how to ensure the balanced development of compulsory education resources within a certain region and across regions, how to improve the enrollment and further education measures for non-native students in Beijing, and how to ensure that non-native students in Beijing can receive fair and continuous education. As the old saying goes, “there is no turning back of an arrow once it is shot.” As the capital and the most privileged place in China, Beijing will eventually achieve an equal, just, transparent, balanced, excellent, diverse, and innovative compulsory education by adhering to the direction of balanced compulsory education development, improving and deepening the reform of policies on admission to junior high schools, and adopting comprehensive governance of the education system and social management system.

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Chapter 8

Special Education Development Plan: Promote the Overall Development of Special Education Peng Xiaguang* Abstract The Plan for Promoting Special Education: 2014–2016《特殊教育提升计划 ( 2014–2016》 ) puts forward an overall scheme for the development of China’s special education. Based on the Plan, within three years, China will establish a special education system characterized by rational overall arrangement, interrelated phases of education, integration of general education with vocational education, and combination of medicine and education, and build a smooth, convenient, and full-coverage system for guaranteeing special education service that relies on government finance and social support, so as to upgrade the overall development level of special education. In order to implement the Plan and its objectives, China needs to take effective measures, such as stressing the development of inclusive education, rendering more financial support to special education, attaching importance to the needs of students with disabilities, raising the salaries of special education teachers, and developing inclusive education in an all-round way, thus enabling every student with disabilities to receive proper education.

Keywords special education – inclusive education – development transformation

The degree of attention and guarantee given to education for the disabled is an important standard for measuring the education level and civilization * Peng Xiaguang 彭霞光, Associate Research Fellow of National Institute of Education Sciences (中国教育科学研究院), Vice President of the Special Education Branch of The Chinese Society of Education (中国教育学会), Member of the Special Education Committee of The Expert Committee of National Basic Education Curriculum Textbooks (国家基础教育课程 教材专家工作委员会特殊教育委员会), and Former President of the East Asian Region of International Association of the Visually Impaired (国际视障协会).

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2019 | doi:10.1163/9789004389021_009

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development of a country. In the Outline of China’s National Plan for Medium and Long-term Education Reform and Development: 2010–2020 promulgated in 2010, special education was identified as one of the eight major tasks of education development and included in the national overall planning for the reform and development of education undertakings. Improving the special education system, perfecting the special education guarantee mechanism, and enhancing the quality of compulsory education for children with disabilities are the main tasks of special education. In 2014, the state promulgated The Plan for Promoting Special Education: 2014–2016, pointing out that in the following three years, efforts will be made to explore an inclusive education model that suits China’s realities to enable children with disabilities to receive proper education and equally participate in social life. While continuing to pay attention to number and scale development, special education lays heavier emphasis on the improvement of the quality of education for people with disabilities as well as the organic integration of the individual demand of people with disabilities into the society. In this way, it has made contribution to the establishment of an inclusive education system free of exclusion and discrimination. At present, China has basically formed a special education development model with Chinese characteristics that relies on special education schools as backbones, a large number of inclusive classes and special education classes as the majority, and delivery of education to doorsteps as support. 1

Development Status of Special Education

China has always attached great emphasis to the development of special education. It regards special education as the “underpinning project” to promote education equality and social harmony. It is pointed out in the Constitution 《宪法》 ( ) that “The state and the society help make arrangements for the work, livelihood, and education of the blind, deaf-mutes, and other handicapped citizens.” Such ad hoc legislations as Law on the Protection of Disabled Persons 《残疾人保障法》 ( ) and Regulations on Education for People with Disabilities 《残疾人教育条例》 ( ) have provided explicit provisions on relevant rights for people with disabilities to equally participate in social life, work, and education. The Compulsory Education Law amended in 2006 also provided provisions on the enrollment of, and arrangements for, disabled children. Not only special education schools were required to provide education for the disabled, regular schools should also accept school-age disabled children, care for them, and give them the necessary help. In recent years, the state has also introduced a series of preferential policies and carried out a series of projects to bridge the Dongping Yang - 978-90-04-38902-1 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 11:15:48AM via free access

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gap between special education and regular education and promote the balanced development of special education, with a view to finding out a special education development path that suits China’s realities. A Special Education System Covering the Whole Course of Education from Preschool Education to Higher Education Has Been Established People with disabilities have been provided with more and more education opportunities. On the one hand, the total number of special education schools in China has been on the increase. To be specific, it increased from 292 in 1978 to 1,379 in 1988, and further increased to 1,933 in 2013. On the other hand, more children are provided with the access to compulsory education. Specifically, the number of disabled students in schools increased from 2,000 in 1949 to 368,100 in 2013, an increase of 155 times. Special education at the non-­compulsory education stage has also enjoyed stable development. In 2013, about 20,000 disabled pupils were provided with education services in the form of attending the special classes in preschools or regular kindergartens. Besides, 186 special education classes in the regular senior high school stage were held, which provided senior high school education for 7,043 students with disabilities. In addition, there are 8,617 disabled students receiving higher education across China, of whom 7,299 are studying in regular institutions of higher learning. Seen from the type of education the disabled children have received, China’s special education has been serving a wider and wider range of people. Governments at all levels should not only make further efforts to provide necessary education services for children with visual impairment, hearing disabilities, and mental retardation, but also include children with severe mental retardation, severe limb disabilities, cerebral palsy and autistic disorders, and multiple disabilities into the coverage of compulsory education so as to achieve education equality in the true sense. The vocational training system for people with disabilities has also taken shape. Multiple forms can be found in various places, including vocational education in special schools, on-the-job post learning, and social vocational training. In 2013, there were 10,442 students in secondary vocational schools for the disabled, more than half of whom (5,816) had acquired vocational qualification certificates. In addition, some special education schools have also set up training classes that offer multiple majors, including Computer, Art Design, Clothing, Typing, as well as Finance and Accounting. By 2013, there were 5,357 vocational training bases for people with disabilities across China, and 378,000 disabled people in cities and towns had received vocational training. Thus it can be seen that China’s special education has basically formed an education system that covers the whole course of education, including preschool 1.1

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education, compulsory education, senior high school education, and higher education. In terms of types, it now covers basic education, vocational education, and adult education. In terms of the school type, the schools that enroll students with disabilities can be divided into special education schools (such as schools for the deaf, schools for the blind, schools for mentally retarded students, comprehensive special education schools) and regular education schools. As to the governing authorities, these institutions can be divided into two major categories, namely, special education schools or centers established by education departments and education rehabilitation organizations or centers established by civil affairs departments, disabled persons’ federations, social organizations, or individuals. Most organizations are established by education departments. A Finance System with Government Investment as the Main Source of Funding Has Been Established Investment from government finance is the main source of funds for special education schools, whereas other sources of income, such as investment from social groups and donations from society take up a very small percentage (See Figure 8.1). Apart from investment from the Central Government finance, local governments at various levels also give financial support to special education in the locality. Although the amount of social donation has been on the increase, its growth rate has fallen short of the growth rate of financial education funds. As a matter of fact, it has decreased from 2.7% to less than 1%. In recent years, exemption of tuitions has been made possible in special education school from compulsory education stage all through to senior high school stage, and miscellaneous fees, which have been decreasing rapidly from 2.6% onward, now take up a very small percentage of the total income of special education. With the establishment and improvement of China’s public education finance system, the proportion of special education funds to financial education funds has been increasing continuously, exceeding 97% at present.1 From the vertical perspective, the financial investment in China’s special education has been growing very fast. From 1998 to 2011, investment in China’s special education schools increased from 840 million yuan to 7.67 billion yuan, with a higher growth rate than that of education funds in the same period. From 2008 to 2011, the state allocated about 4.7 billion yuan special funds to support the building of new special education schools as well as reconstruction and expansion of existing special education schools in central and western regions. The investment in special education schools more than doubled. 1.2

1  Written by Peng Xiaguang et al., Zhongguo teshu jiaoyu fazhan baogao 2013 中国特殊教育 发展报告2013 [Report on the Development of China’s Special Education in 2013] (Education Science Publishing House 教育科学出版社, 2015). Dongping Yang - 978-90-04-38902-1 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 11:15:48AM via free access

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Special Education Development Plan

FIGURE 8.1 Some sources of income for China’s special education between 2000 and 20112 学杂费：Miscellaneous Fees 社会捐集资经费：Donations and Funds from Society 财政性教育经费：Education Funds from Government Finance

Apart from education input from general government budget, special education also receives special funds from the Central Government and local governments. In 2008, the Central Government allocated 12 million yuan “special subsidies for special education.” The amount increased to 55 million yuan in 2013, and further to 410 million yuan in 2014, which was 7.5 times of that in 2013. The increased input was aimed at further implementing The Plan for Promoting Special Education: 2014–2016 and promoting the development of special education. The Special Education Development Model with Chinese Characteristics Has Been Established Seen from traditional education, special education for the blind, the deaf, and the mentally retarded students was realized in specially established special education schools. Since the 1980s, in order to realize education equality for all, China has started to place disabled children in regular schools to receive education. Since 2001, over 60% of the students with disabilities study in inclusive classes or in special education classes attached to regular classes. In 2010, the number of children with disabilities studying in schools was 425,600, and around 65% of them were studying in regular schools. Although since 2009, the number of children with disabilities studying in regular schools has been on the decrease (see Figure 8.2), it still took up 52% of all the students with 1.3

2  Written by Peng Xiaguang et al., Zhongguo teshu jiaoyu fazhan baogao 2013 中国特殊教育 发展报告2013 [Report on the Development of China’s Special Education in 2013] (Education Science Publishing House, 2015). Dongping Yang - 978-90-04-38902-1 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 11:15:48AM via free access

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disabilities. Therefore, in terms of number, China has formed a special education development model with Chinese characteristics that relies on special education schools as backbones, a large number of inclusive classes and special education classes as the majority, and delivery of education to doorsteps as support. Since 1978, the total number of special education schools in China has been on the increase. To be specific, the number of special education schools in China increased from 292 in 1978 to 1,379 in 1988. With the convening of The First National Conference on Special Education Work (全国第一次特殊 教育工作会议) in 1989, particularly the implementation of special education school building projects in central and western China since 2007, the number of special education schools have been increasing very fast. By 2013, it had reached 1,933, which was 6.6 times of the number in 1978. Nevertheless, special education schools of different types have been developing differently. To be specific, the number of comprehensive special education schools have been increasing steadily year after year, taking up over 50% of all special education schools in 2013, with a trend of further increase. Thus, it can be seen that in the future, the majority of special education schools will be comprehensive

FIGURE 8.2 Distribution of students with disabilities in schools between 2003 and 2013 普校就读：The Proportion of Students with Disabilities Studying in Regular Schools 特校就读：The Proportion of Students with Disabilities Studying in Special Education Schools

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special education schools. The focus will be shifted from serving students with one specific type of disability to serving students with different types of disabilities, so as to accommodate and satisfy the education needs of students with different types of disabilities and truly live up to the concept of inclusive education. The System for Cultivating Special Education Teachers Has Been Improving Continuously After the Reform and Opening-up, the state started to establish special education normal schools (departments and classes) in the majority of provinces across China and set up special education major in normal universities administered by ministries and commissions to accommodate the development needs of special education. In 1986, Beijing Normal University (北京师范大学) set up special education major in its Faculty of Education. In 1993, Liaoning Normal University (辽宁师范大学) started to offer special education master programs. In 2004, the first group of special education PhD candidates graduated from East China Normal University (华东师范大学). At present, China has not only special education undergraduate programs, but also graduate and PhD programs. The teacher development system of China’s special education has been basically set up and enjoyed rapid development. With the continuous improvement of the system, the number of special education teachers has been increasing continuously and their degree structure has been optimizing, laying a solid human resource foundation for the development of China’s special education. Due to the establishment of the teacher development system, the number of full-time teachers in special education schools has been increasing and their degree structure optimizing. To be specific, the number increased from 797 in 1953 to 46,000 in 2013, an increase of nearly 60 times. From 2001 to 2013, the number of full-time teachers in special education schools with bachelor degree or associate degree increased significantly, whereas the number of teachers with senior high school graduation certificate gradually decreased. By 2013, full-time teachers with bachelor degree or associate degree had taken up over 90% of all teachers in special education schools. And 61.0% of them had received professional training on special education, an increase of 14.3% compared to the previous year.3 Such improvement has provided a solid guarantee for students with disabilities to receive quality education. 1.4

3  Development Planning Division of the Ministry of Education 教育部发展规划司 “Jiaoyu tongji baogao 教育统计报告 [Education Statistics Report],” March 2014.

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Prominent Problems Exist

The state has achieved some results in its endeavor to push forward the development of special education. In spite of this, a gap still exists between the education for the disabled and the ordinary people, China’s special education is yet to be improved, there are imbalances in the development of special education, and efforts are yet to be made to improve such aspects as education rights, education opportunities, and education resources. Disabled Children in Central and Western China Lack Opportunities to Receive Compulsory Education On the whole, quite a lot of children with disabilities have not received due education. According to the survey results in 2012, only 72% of children with disabilities received compulsory education, much lower than the enrollment rate of regular primary schools (99%) and the enrollment rate of regular junior high schools (97%). By the end of 2013, there were 84,000 school-age children with disabilities that had not attended schools, 127,000 less than the number in 2009. Of these school-age children with disabilities that had not attended schools, those suffering from mental retardation, physical disability, or multiple disabilities took up over 60% in total. Therefore, it will be the top priority to provide these three types of disabled children with the access to compulsory education. According to analysis, 80% of the school-age children with disabilities that had not attended schools were in central and western China, and they were confronted with difficulties to attend schools. Western China saw the biggest number (35,000) of such children, taking up 42% of all the disabled children. Second to it was central China, with around 33,000 students, taking up 39% of all the disabled children. Places with a large number of school-age children with disabilities that had not attended schools included Henan (7,948), Hunan (5,839), Jiangxi (5,234), Sichuan (4,436), and Xinjiang (4,183). Challenges such as insufficient number of schoolhouses, lack of special education teachers, and shortage of funds will stand in the way of the endeavor to guarantee access to education for all children with disabilities in these regions. Among all the school-age children with disabilities that have not attended schools, there are huge differences in the type of disabilities among different regions. To be specific, cities or economically advanced regions have seen more and more children with autism. Thus, it is a new challenge for urban areas to provide compulsory education for school-age children with autism to enable them to recover. Children with mental retardation, severe physical 2.1

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FIGURE 8.3 Distribution of children with disabilities who have not attended schools in 2013 东部：Eastern China 中部：Central China 西部：Western China

disabilities, or multiple disabilities are also confronted with difficulties to receive compulsory education, as they are rejected by regular schools and the state has not established corresponding special education schools. Thus, school-age children with these types of disabilities have become the “disadvantaged group” that requires cities and economically advanced regions to make the most efforts. Besides, in rural areas or underdeveloped regions, children with disabilities do not have enough opportunities to receive compulsory education. Compulsory education in these regions focuses on children with mental retardation, hearing disability, visual impairment, and physical disabilities. Thus, cities and economically advanced regions should innovate the mechanism and system of education for children with disabilities, focus on explore an education model and approach for children with autism, mental retardation, severe physical disability, or multiple disabilities. By contrast, rural areas and underdeveloped regions should broaden channels and take measures to increase opportunities for school-age children with disabilities to receive education.

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2.2 Distribution of Special Education Resources Is Not Reasonable The number of special education schools in China has been increasing very fast. As the state introduced preferential policies for the building of special education schools in central and western China, the Central Government and local governments successively invested 4.7 billion yuan, which basically helped complete the construction and reconstruction of 1,150 special education schools in central and western China and bridged the gap between regions. Nevertheless, universal access to compulsory education for children with disabilities is still confronted with challenges. Special education schools in central and western China suffer from a lack of resources. The state has basically completed the task of building one special education school in counties (cities or ethic regions) with a population of over 300,000 or those with many disabled children. However, currently some special education schools do not have the ability to enroll students. Although some special education schools have been in operation, their schoolhouses are not fully utilized. Special education resources are even absent in counties with less than 300,000 residents. Surveys reveal that currently special education schools are absent in 589 counties with a population of less than 300,000 in China. Although these regions have seen some children with mild disabilities attending regular schools, they still suffer from a lack of many resources, including special education administration skills, special education teachers, special education fund, and auxiliary devices. In other words, compulsory education for students with disabilities in these regions are confronted with major challenges. Households of Students with Disabilities Are Burdened to Ensure Children’s Education With the economic development, China is gradually implementing the policy of free compulsory education. Thanks to this policy, school-age children no longer have to be deprived of education because of poverty, and the schoolage children with disabilities are also able to receive compulsory education. It is stipulated in the Opinions on Promoting the Development of Undertakings for the Disabled 《关于促进残疾人事业发展的意见》 ( ) promulgated in 2008 that “the policy of free compulsory education for students with disabilities should be thoroughly implemented.” Despite this, students with disabilities only enjoy the exemption of tuitions and miscellaneous fees as regular students do. Their families still have to pay other education expenses, such as accommodation fees, transportation cost, and the cost of assistive facilities. In recent years, the state has increased the amount of subsidy for needy students in the compulsory education stage. Many students with disabilities 2.3

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have also enjoyed the benefits brought about by this policy, which has helped reduce the burden of their families to some extent. However, as the amount of subsidy for children with disabilities is not large, their families still need to pay more education expense than normal children’s families. In the compulsory education stage, families of children with disabilities have to pay for not only children’s textbook fees (for example, textbooks for the blind and textbooks with large font size are very expensive), living expenses, accommodation, at least one round-trip transportation, but also more expenses, such as medical treatment and rehabilitation cost. In the non-compulsory education stage, families of children with disabilities might need to pay more. Apart from the abovementioned fees, they will also need to pay for a certain amount of tuitions and miscellaneous fees. For families of children with disabilities in rural areas or remote and mountainous areas, the burden for children’s education is very heavy. Therefore, in order to ensure that school-age children with disabilities can enjoy compulsory education, the state still needs to increase the education funds for them. Special Education Teachers Shoulder Heavy Responsibilities Yet Are Underpaid Compared with other teachers, special education teachers suffer from a low sense of professional self-identity, strong frustration, and lack of motivation. There are several reasons. First, they are not duly recognized in the society. Some of the students majoring in special education are unwilling to work as special education teachers after graduation. Even if they choose this profession, they tend to change their jobs once opportunities arise. Statistics show that in 2010, the number of new teachers in special education schools took up 10.05% of the total number of teachers in the previous year, yet the number of teachers who left their positions (either transferred to other positions or left due to natural reduction of staff members) also took up 5.50% of the total number of teachers.4 Currently China is confronted with a severe lack of special education teachers. According to estimation, special education schools need approximately more than 10,000 new teachers.5 Second, 2.4

4  Written by Peng Xiaguang et al., Zhongguo teshu jiaoyu fazhan baogao 2012 中国特殊教育 发展报告2012 [Report on the Development of China’s Special Education in 2012] (Education Science Publishing House, 2013). 5  Wang Yan 王雁, “Quanguo teshu jiaoyu xuexiao jiaozhigong duiwu jiegou ji xuqiu qingkuang diaocha 全国特殊教育学校教职工队伍结构及需求情况调查 [Survey on the Structure of Teaching and Administrative Staff and Demand in Special Education Schools in China],” Chinese Journal of Special Education, 2012(3): 8.

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special education students need special care, their abilities differ significantly, the challenge for teaching them is huge, and special education teachers have a low sense of fulfillment. Of all the disabled students in schools for the blind and schools for the deaf, some are able to go to universities to receive further education, yet some, who suffer from two or multiple disabilities, even have difficulties taking care of themselves. Teaching these students is a tough job that makes it hard to achieve results. Third, special education teachers have to shoulder heavy responsibilities. They need to not only undertake the task of teaching, but also impart life experience and skills to the students and shoulder more responsibility for their safety. Fourth, due to the lack of a professional title appraisal system, special education teachers have to accept assessment in accordance with the standards for regular education teachers despite the complete difference between the two types of education in education philosophy and education system. Fifth, the salary and welfare of special education teachers are lower than those for teachers working in regular schools. China has been implementing the subsidy policy of “basic salary plus the salary appendant to position” for special education teachers since 1956. Now more than 50 years have passed, no adjustment has been made for this policy. Up to the 1980s, the subsidy policy for special education teachers had played a significant role in retaining special education teachers. However, after the structural reform of teachers’ salary in 2006, special education subsidy only takes up 4% to 6% of the total amount of the salary of special education teachers, far from justifying their special value. Urgent Support Should Be Given to Children with Disabilities Studying in Regular Schools Learning in regular classes is an important means to increase opportunities for children with disabilities to receive compulsory education. However, over the past five years, the number of students with disabilities in regular schools has been on the decrease. According to the statistics published by the Ministry of Education, the number of students with disabilities studying in regular schools was 190,800 in 2013, a decrease of 29% compared to 2009 (See Figure 8.4). It can be seen from Figure 8.4 that although in 2013 the number of students in special education schools had increased by 18,300 compared to 2009, an increase of 12%, the huge drop in the number of students with disabilities in regular schools still led to the continuous decrease of the total number of students with disabilities in schools. Governments at all levels should pay attention to this. Though there might be multiple reasons for the decrease, it is undeniable 2.5

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that there is a lack of support and guarantee in policy, finance, and human resources for students with disabilities to study in regular schools.

FIGURE 8.4 Distribution of students with disabilities in schools between 2009 and 2013 普校就读：The Proportion of Students with Disabilities Studying in Regular Schools 特教学校：The Proportion of Students with Disabilities Studying in Special Education Schools 在校总数：The Proportion of Students with Disabilities in Schools to All Students with Disabilities

3

Encourage Transformation and Innovation

In the early years of the 20th Century, both developed countries and developing countries gradually used government-funded special education schools and special education classes as the main places for educating children with disabilities, though this type of isolated special education deprived children with disabilities of the opportunities to live and study with normal children. After the 1970s, developed countries in Europe and America started to introduce laws and regulations one after another with a view to encouraging the regular education system to accept the form of education for children with disabilities. The idea is that schools should not only accept students with disabilities, but also meet the special education needs of all students. After the 1990s, international organizations, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (联合国教科文组织) in particular, were very concerned about the education for the disadvantaged children and children in tough situation. They brought

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up such slogans as “isolation is inequality” and “Inclusive Education: The Way of the Future” (全纳教育—未来之路),6 believing that inclusive education is the destiny of education as a whole in the future. China is also trying its best to push forward the development of inclusive education so as to enable every disabled child to receive proper and equal education and participate in social life in an equal manner. Formulate Plans to Push Forward the Development of Inclusive Education Developing inclusive education is a part of the reform of the whole education system. It calls for the break of the former exclusiveness of the education system and social system. The experience of many countries in promoting inclusive education suggests that it is of utmost importance to improve the construction of laws and regulations and carry out the regular system reform. Promotion of inclusive education in China should be dominated by the government, rely on education administrative authorities, and be participated by all people. Public opinions should be leveraged on to eliminate barriers and gradually reach a consensus in society. Besides, efforts should be made to gradually amend the terms and provisions in the existing laws and regulations that stand in the way of the development of inclusive education, study the realization strategies, content, and ways of inclusive education, and explore an inclusive education model that suits China’s national conditions, so as to make contribution to establishing an inclusive education system free of exclusiveness and discrimination in the world. Allowing children with disabilities to study in regular schools is an important means of inclusive education. Yet over the past five years, the number of disabled students studying in regular schools in China has been decreasing. Given this, governments at all levels should encourage more regular schools to accept disabled students, increase the quality of the classes with both regular students and disabled students, and actively explore an inclusive education model that suits China’s national conditions. It is suggested that the state first establish some county-level, municipal-level, or state-level inclusive education experimental zones. And efforts can be made to explore the support guarantee mechanism of county-level compulsory education for disabled children in administrative management and teaching, a complementary mechanism for regular funds and special funds, pre-employment cultivation and 3.1

6   Jill Van den Brule, “Quanna jiaoyu-weilaizhilu 全纳教育——未来之路 [Inclusive Education: The Way of the Future],” International Bureau of Education, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization（联合国教科文组织国际教育局）.

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post-employment knowledge training means, teacher regulation examination and reward system, curriculum with organic integration of regular classes and special classes, transfer of disabled students between regular schools and special education schools, and the work mechanism of the steering consulting committee for the education of disabled children, so as to lay a foundation for the state to accelerate the establishment of the inclusive education system for regular schools and special education schools and advancing inclusive education in an all-round way. 4

Implement the All-free Education System for Students with Disabilities

China’s compulsory education for children with disabilities has its special characteristics and requires high cost. The state needs to invest more to ensure that children are not deprived of the opportunity to receive compulsory education because of poverty. To be specific, the state needs to exempt all charges for children with disabilities in the compulsory education stage, including the necessary accommodation fees and transportation cost, and provide them with a proper amount of subsidy. Afterwards, the state will also need to exempt all charges for students with disabilities in senior high schools, exempt the childcare expense, tuitions, as well as board and lodging expenses for children with disabilities in the preschool education stage, exempt the tuitions and miscellaneous fees for students with disabilities in secondary vocational schools and provide them with subsidies (including subsidy for board and lodging expense and employment security fee), and exempt tuitions for students with disabilities in institutions of higher learning and provide them with grants. 5

Give More Support to Regions without Special Education Resources

At present, special education schools are still absent in 589 counties with a population of less than 300,000 in China. Many of these counties are located in central and western China, which are China’s most poverty-stricken areas and the areas with the least access to compulsory education for children with disabilities. They are known as the counties without special education resources. Thus, it is a matter of urgency to transform regular schools into county-level special education resource centers so as to enroll children with moderate or

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severe disabilities and provide services for students with disabilities and their teachers in regular schools. 6

Make the Job of Special Education Teacher More Attractive

First, measures should be taken to significantly increase the salary for special education teachers and raise the subsidy for special education teachers from 15% to 50%; give special subsidy to special education teachers in secondary vocational schools for the disabled and higher special education institutions; include the subsidy for special education posts in the retirement wage for special education teachers with over 20 years of continuous teaching experience; give special subsidy appendant to special education posts to teachers in regular schools who are teaching special education classes or undertaking the work of managing inclusive classes; exempt tuitions and fees for students in normal universities; provide jobs and transportation allowance for teachers who deliver education services to doorsteps and those medical staff undertaking the experiments to “combine medicine and education.” Second, efforts should be made to establish a job admission system for special education teachers; formulate the qualifications and examination standards for special education teachers; set provisions on the post qualifications for teachers teaching inclusive classes, support teachers, circuit mentors, and professional rehabilitation personnel. Third, regular normal colleges and universities should provide compulsory courses for special education major; students in regular colleges and universities should be encouraged to acquire special education teacher qualifications by completing extra credits after graduation; and some comprehensive universities with necessary conditions are encouraged to provide elective courses for special education major on a trial basis. Besides, the state should introduce the staffing standards for teachers and administrative staff in special education schools as soon as possible, so as to equip special education schools with an adequate number of teachers and administrative staff, reduce the workload and work pressure of special education teachers, and make the job of special education teacher more attractive. Improve the Schooling Conditions of Newly Established Special Education Schools in Central and Western China During the “Eleventh Five-Year Plan” Period, the state built and rebuilt 1,150 special education schools in central and western China, basically realizing the task of establishing one comprehensive or specialized special education school in every county with a population of more than 300,000. To this end, the Central 6.1

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Government and local governments invested 4.7 billion yuan, laying a solid foundation for the initiative of making compulsory education accessible to children with disabilities in central and western China. However, most of these newly built or rebuilt special education schools are located in poverty-stricken counties that struggle with weak financial capacity, lack of resources, shortage of special education teachers, as well as poor school conditions. Therefore, the state should continue to carry out the Phase II project of improving the conditions of special education schools in central and western China to ensure the sound operation of the above-mentioned schools. Moreover, such measures as targeted support and transfer of regular teachers to special education teachers should also be taken to supply newly built or rebuilt special education schools with teachers, so that these schools can start enrollment as soon as possible and provide good education for students with disabilities.

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Chapter 9

Ensure Equal Access to Quality Preschool Education Zhang Feng and Zhao Yuchi * Abstract Equal access and quality are two priorities for the development of preschool education. With the completion of the Phase I Three-Year Action Plan of Preschool Education (学前教育第一期三年行动计划), it was necessary to look into what results have been achieved in ensuring equal access to, and the quality of, preschool education and what problems remain to be dealt with. Since 2014, China has been implementing the Phase II Three-Year Action Plan of Pre-school Education, introducing new policies, and continuing to carry out some key projects. However, further exploration still needs to be made through continuous practice to ensure that all children have equal access to quality preschool education and the new policies on preschool education are well implemented.

Keywords preschool education – three-year action plan – equal access – quality

After the state promulgated a series of new policies on preschool education, the Central Government and local governments have been trying to establish a preschool education public service system with “wide coverage, satisfaction of people’s basic education needs, and high quality.” The year 2013 saw the completion of the Phase I Three-Year Action Plan. The objective then was to develop more than 90,000 kindergartens through construction, reconstruction, *  Zhang Feng 张凤, PhD of Education and Teaching Department of the Open University of China, with main research interest in preschool teacher education. Zhao Yuchi 赵玉 池, PhD of Rural Education and Rural Development Research Institute of Beijing Normal University and International Rural Education Research and Training Center, United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, with main research interest in rural education and comparative education.

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2019 | doi:10.1163/9789004389021_010

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or expansion, add over five million kindergarten students, and increase more than 100 billion yuan of investment in preschool education within three years.1 Now the Phase I Three-Year Action Plan has been completed. Are the results satisfactory? Has the “difficulty of attending kindergartens” been truly eliminated? Has an equal and quality preschool education system been established? And how should we adjust and improve the future action plan(s) for preschool education? 1

“The Three-Year Action Plan” Strives to Ensure Equal Access to Preschool Education

For a long time, unequal access to preschool education has taken root in and out of the preschool education system. Preschool education has been marginalized in the education system in the medium and long term. In order to solve this long-standing problem, the state and government expressly put forward that efforts should be made to establish a preschool education public service system with “wide coverage and satisfaction of people’s basic education needs.” After three years of efforts, the idea of “equal access” has been fully embodied in all links of the action plan despite various kinds of inevitable problems. The Purpose of “The Three-Year Action Plan” Is to Ensure that Every Child Has Access to Kindergartens In order to realize “equal access,” the state and government promised to invest a large amount of funds to expand the construction of kindergartens in The Three-Year Action Plan, with a view to providing enough opportunities to ensure that every child can receive education in kindergartens. In 2011, the Ministry of Finance, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, printed and distributed the Notice on Increasing Government Investment in Preschool Education to Support Preschool Education Development《关于加大学前教育财 ( 政投入支持学前教育发展的通知》 ), deciding that from 2011, the state shall set aside 50 billion yuan from the central budget to establish a preschool education development fund. As a matter of fact, from 2011 to 2013, the state allocated a total amount of 42.24 billion from the central budget to support the development of preschool education. Besides, it also gave rewards and subsidies to 1.1

1  Suo Changqing 索长清, “Xueqian jiaoyu sannian xingdong jihua: huimou yu zhanwang 学前教育三年行动计划：回眸与展望 [The Three-Year Action Plan of Pre-school Education: Retrospect and Prospects],” Journal of Education Development 《 ( 教育导刊》 ), Issue 8 (2013).

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the enterprises and public institutions, collectively established kindergartens, kindergartens that enroll children of migrant workers, and non-state kindergartens of public interest (普惠性民办园) in cities supported by the Central Government. Over the past three years, more than ten million children have enjoyed the benefits, including over three million children of migrant workers. Besides, the state also formulated financial aid policies for preschool education in various regions and increased support by giving rewards and subsidies to kindergartens. On average, over three million children with financial difficulties, orphans, and children with disabilities received financial support from the government every year. With investment from the central budget, local governments at various levels also invested over 160 billion yuan. The government spending on preschool education increased from 1.7% of the total amount of government spending on education (财政性教育经费) in 2010 to 3.4% in 2012. Take Shandong Province for example. In 2013, the provincial government spent 5.78 billion yuan on preschool education, 5.1 billion yuan more than that in 2010 and an increase of 750%. In 2010, the government spending on preschool education in the province only took up 0.8% of the total government budget. The proportions were respectively 2%, 3.3%, and 3.9% in 2011, 2012, and 2013.2 Besides, regions with weak education resources have also increased input in preschool education as much as possible. For example, prior to the implementation of The Three-Year Action Plan, Guizhou Provincial Government used to allocate one million yuan from its provincial budget to develop preschool education. But in 2011, the first year after the implementation of The Three-Year Action Plan, it increased its government spending on preschool education to 150 million yuan, an increase of 150 times. Implementation of “The Three-Year Action Plan” Is Dedicated to “Helping Those in Need” Before The Three-Year Action Plan was implemented, government spending on preschool education in eastern China was significantly higher than that in central and western China; western regions received more support from the state than central regions; and the central regions are in a state of “collapse.” Therefore, The Three-Year Action Plan explicitly put forward that “priority 1.2

2  “Shandong qunian anpai caizhengxing xueqian jiaoyu jingfei yu 57 yiyuan kuoda xueqian jiaoyu ziyuan 山东去年安排财政性学前教育经费逾57亿元扩大学前教育资源 [Shandong Provincial Government Spent over 5.7 Billion Yuan on Preschool Education Last Year to Expand Preschool Education Resources],” November 19, 2014. Available on the website of the people’s net: http://sd.people.com.cn/n/2014/0402/c166192-20910659.html.

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should be given to rural areas in central and western China” and efforts shall be made to “take care of the disadvantaged groups and invest according to needs” in the course of its implementation. Currently, China’s economy is underdeveloped and the development of its economy and culture are unbalanced in different regions. Because of this, it is still impossible to ensure that all children in China receives education of the same quality. Nevertheless, it is the right of preschool children to receive education. Children from different regions, with different levels of affordability, and from households of different conditions should be treated equal in the course of preschool education. Only by so doing can equal access to education be realized. With the implementation of The Three-Year Action Plan backed up by increased government spending on preschool education, most resources have been invested in central and western regions to establish more public interest kindergartens. It can be said that on the whole, the plan was implemented in a fair manner. Despite the inevitable differences among regions in the actual implementation of the policies, the policies themselves well embody the fairness of the implementation of The Three-Year Action Plan, and also strive to change the “icing on the cake” model of government spending before, living up to the expectation of “investing according to needs and helping those in need.” Implementation Results of “The Three-Year Action Plan” Also Embody Public Interest First, the number of kindergartens increased rapidly. With continuous and stable investment from the government, preschool education has experienced rapid increase of resources. In accordance with the “Three-Step” Strategy, the Phase I “Action Plan” focused on expanding preschool education resources. Seen from the number of kindergartens, the implementation outcome has reflected the public interest of The Three-Year Action Plan. For example, Henan Province put forward in its “Three-Year Action Plan” the target of “developing 6,600 kindergartens through construction, reconstruction, or expansion within three years, of which 4,000 are public kindergartens.”3 With the concerted efforts of the state and education authorities at various levels, it is shown in the statistics released by the Ministry of Education that the number of kindergartens reached 198,600 in 2013, 48,200 more than that in 2010 and an increase of 32%. See Figure 9.1 for the increase in the number of kindergartens from 2010 to 2013. 1.3

3  Du Yanhong 杜燕红, “Henansheng xueqian jiaoyu sannian xingdong jihua jiedu 河南省学 前教育三年行动计划解读 [Interpretations of the Three-Year Action Plan for Preschool Education of Henan Province],” Educational Science Abstracts《教育科学文摘》 ( ), No. 3 (2012).

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FIGURE 9.1 Increase in the number of kindergartens from 2010 to 2013 2010–2013 幼儿园数量增长情况: Increase in the Number of Kindergartens from 2010 to 2013

Though the statistics on the increase in the number of kindergartens in different areas are only available for the years including and prior to 2012, it can still be seen from a comparison between 2012 and 2010 the growth trend of the number of kindergartens in different areas. To be specific, the number of kindergartens in cities increased from 35,845 in 2010 to 57,677 in 2012, an increase of 60.9%; the number of kindergartens in townships increased from 42,987 in 2010 to 60,483 in 2012, an increase of 40.7%; and the number of kindergartens in villages dropped from 71,588 in 2010 to 63,091 in 2012, a decrease of 11.9%. it can be seen that the number of kindergartens mainly increased in cities and townships, and that in rural areas did not increase. The slow increase or even no increase in the number of rural kindergartens can be explained from the perspective of China’s urbanization drive at present. In the context of urbanization, people in rural areas are gradually moving to townships, and people in townships are gradually moving to cities. Decline in population might be one of reasons for the gradual decrease of the number of rural kindergartens, which further leads to the increased number of kindergartens in townships and cities. See Table 9.1 below for detailed statistics. Besides, the number of pupils in kindergartens grew significantly. In 2013, the number of pupils in kindergartens reached 38.95 million, 9.18 million more than that in 2010, which equals to the total increase over the past ten years. The national gross enrollment rate of the three-year preschool education (学前三年毛入园率) reached 67.5%, realizing the target of 60% set in “The Twelfth Five-Year Plan” (“十二五”规划) in advance. See Figure 9.2 below for details.

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TABLE 9.1 The number of newly established kindergartens in various areas from 2010 to 2012

Year/Region Cities Townships Villages

2010

2011

2012

35,845 42,987 71,588

53,547 54,519 58,684

57,677 60,483 63,091

FIGURE 9.2 Number of pupils in kindergartens from 2010 to 2013 在园幼儿数量统计：Number of Pupils in Kindergartens 在园幼儿总数：Total Number of Pupils in Kindergartens

Seen from the statistics released by the Ministry of Education from 2010 to 2012, the number of kindergarten students in different areas had also been increasing in general. To be specific, the number of kindergarten students in cities and townships was increasing year by year, whereas the number of kindergarten students in villages decreased in 2011 before a slight increase in 2012. See Figure 9.3 below for details of the increase. The Preschool Education System That Ensures Equal Access Has Been Gradually Improved The healthy and continuous development of preschool education must be based on the establishment and improvement of the system. The three years saw the promulgation of a series of administrative orders and programmatic documents by the state to improve the quality of kindergartens, including the Interim Measures on the Management of Kindergarten Charges 《幼儿园 ( 收费管理暂行办法》 ) and the Guidebook for the Learning and Development of 3–6-Year Old Children 《 ( 3–6岁儿童学习与发展指南》) issued by the state as 1.4

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FIGURE 9.3 各地区在园幼儿数量统计：Number of Kindergarten Students in Different Areas 城区：Cities 镇区：Townships 乡村：Villages

well as the Kindergarten Work Procedures 《幼儿园工作规程》 ( ), Kindergarten Establishment Standards 《幼儿园建设标准》 ( ), and Standards for the Toys and Teaching Facilities in Kindergartens 《幼儿园玩教具配备标准》 ( ) revised by the Ministry of Education. At the provincial level, various places strengthened building in such aspects as charging standards, safety, hygiene, and quality of kindergartens. For example, Jiangsu Province has relevant institutional guarantee for such aspects as “management system,” “resource development,” “financial input,” “teacher development,” and “quality control” of preschool education. Take “management system” for example. It required local people’s governments above county level to include preschool education into their annual work target assessment. 2

Start to Pay Attention to Quality while Ensuring Equal Access

Since the implementation of The Three-Year Action Plan, various kinds of kindergartens have mushroomed with increased investment from governments at various levels. Even so, increase in quantity without quality is meaningless. It is pointed out in Strong Starting Point III: Quality Toolbox for Child Education and Child Care (《强壮的起点III—幼儿教育与养护质量工具箱》) published by Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) (世界经 合组织) that sole increase of kindergartens without focus on their quality will

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be counterproductive for child development, and will not serve the long-term interests of the society. Therefore, various measures have also been taken to ensure the quality of preschool education in the implementation and execution of The Three-Year Action Plan. The Number of Teachers Significantly Increased, and Greater Efforts Have Been Made in Teacher Development and Teacher Training First, the number of kindergarten teachers increased. In accordance with The Three-Year Action Plan, the state and government have taken multiple means to increase the number of kindergarten teachers through multiple channels, such as the special post plan, job transfer of primary school teachers after training, acceptance of tuition-free normal college students (免费师范生), and open recruitment. In 2013, the number of teaching and administrative staff in China reached 2.83 million, 980,000 more than that in 2010 and an increase of 53%. The number of full-time teachers increased from 1.14 million in 2010 to 1.48 million in 2012, an increase of 340,000 within two years. Second, kindergarten teachers became better educated. Apart from the notable increase, full-time kindergarten teachers became better and better educated year by year. For example, in 2010, around 60% of the full-time kindergarten teachers were bachelor degree holders or junior college graduates. And by 2012, that percentage had reached 65%. Meanwhile, the percentage of kindergarten teachers who were high school graduates or primary school graduates and junior high school graduates dropped from around 40% in 2010 to around 35% in 2012. See Figure 9.4, Figure 9.5, and Figure 9.6 below for details of the education background of kindergarten teachers. Third, various kinds of teacher training were strengthened, on September 5, 2011, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Finance jointly issued the Notice on Implementing the State Plan of Training Kindergarten Teachers (Teacher [2011] No. 5)《关于实施幼儿教师国家级培训计划的通知》 ( ), deciding to implement the “State Plan of Training Kindergarten Teachers” (“幼儿教师国 家级培训计划”). An amount of 1.1 billion yuan was expected to be invested in the state training plan to train 296,000 rural kindergarten teachers. Afterwards, governments in most regions also formulated kindergarten teacher training plans. The first round of training is expected to be completed before 2015. Such trainings have raised the education level of many kindergarten teachers, especially rural kindergarten teachers. Fourth, the scale of teacher development was enlarged. In 2013, there were 739 institutions of higher learning and secondary normal schools aimed at cultivating kindergarten teachers, with 537,000 students, nearly doubled compared to the number in 2010, which was 258,000 less. Besides, the Ministry of 2.1

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FIGURE 9.4 2010 年幼儿园专任教师学历比率：Proportions of Full-time Kindergarten Teachers with Different Education Background in 2010 研究生：Master Degree Holders 本科：Bachelor Degree Holders 专科：Junior College Graduates 高中：High School Graduates 高中以下：Primary School Graduates and Junior High School Graduates

Education approved to upgrade nine preschool education colleges, and governments in various regions also actively expanded the scale of kindergarten teacher development according to their development needs. Prevent and Rectify the “Education of Kindergarten Students Like Primary School Students” Various measures were taken to ensure and improve the quality of child care and education in kindergartens, and prevent and rectify the “education of kindergarten students like primary school students.” The “Ten State Articles” (“国 十条”) expressly put forward the target of “adhering to scientific childcare and promoting the healthy mental and physical development of children.” In 2011, the Ministry of Education specially promulgated the Notice on Standardizing the Child Care and Education Work in Kindergartens; Prevent and Rectify the “Education of Kindergarten Students Like Primary School Students” 《关于 ( 2.2

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FIGURE 9.5 2011 年幼儿园专任教师学历比率：Proportions of Full-time Kindergarten Teachers with Different Education Background in 2011 研究生：Master Degree Holders 本科：Bachelor Degree Holders 专科：Junior College Graduates 高中：High School Graduates 高中以下：Primary School Graduates and Junior High School Graduates

规范幼儿园保育教育工作，防止和纠正“小学化”现象的通知》). The Notice

requires kindergartens to properly arrange and organize children’s life in school every day, and rectify the education content and means patterned after those in primary schools; create favorable conditions conducive to child development and change the education environment similar to that in primary schools; strictly implement the compulsory education enrollment policies and abandon all forms of primary school entrance examinations; strengthen business guidance and dynamic monitoring, and establish a long-term mechanism; and increase propaganda and foster a sound social atmosphere. Under the guidance of relevant policies, various regions successively established preschool education monitoring and assessment mechanisms. For example, the Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan Province (四 川省甘孜藏族自治州) put forward that “the prefecture government education monitoring group should be responsible for the monitoring and assessment

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FIGURE 9.6 2012 年幼儿园专任教师学历比率：Proportions of Full-time Kindergarten Teachers with Different Education Background in 2012 研究生：Master Degree Holders 本科：Bachelor Degree Holders 专科：Junior College Graduates 高中：High School Graduates 高中以下：Primary School Graduates and Junior High School Graduates

of preschool education work, and prefecture education authorities should establish special monitoring and assessment system to urge various counties and prefecture-level departments to strengthen monitoring and examination of such aspects of responsibility performance, project progress, staff development, fund investment, safety management, and teachers’ benefits package. Kindergartens that fail to pass assessment should be rectified within a definite time. Unqualified kindergartens should be canceled, and relevant people in charge of public kindergartens should be held accountable.” The Guidebook for the Learning and Development of 3–6-Year Old Children Has Been Promulgated With the accelerated development of preschool education, scientific child care has also been gradually put on the agenda. In this context, on October 15, 2.3

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2012, the Guidebook for the Learning and Development of 3–6-Year Old Children was introduced at the right moment. The assessment results of preschool education policies in developed countries by OECD suggest that: entrusting the government and education authorities to study and formulate the guidebook on child learning and development has played a significant role in effectively transforming the public’s perception of education, guiding teachers and parents in a targeted manner, and improving the child care quality of preschool education institutions. Therefore, the distribution of the Guidebook marked the further improvement of China’s preschool education management system and provided more detailed and workable references and guidance for teachers and parents to understand the mental and physical development of children. It is of important historic significance to facilitate the scientific development of China’s preschool education. The Guidebook for the Learning and Development of 3–6-Year Old Children systematically specified the reasonable development expectations and objectives for 3–6-year old children in various learning and development fields in an all-round manner, and also provided concrete and feasible suggestions for the detailed ways and means to realize these objectives. Besides, the Notice of the Ministry of Education on Printing out and Distributing the Guidebook for the Learning and Development of 3–6-Year Old Children ([2012] No. 4) (教育 部关于印发《3–6岁儿童学习与发展指南》的通知（[2012]4号）) expressly required that efforts should be made to “carry out training for all staff.” Besides, the document also pointed out that special importance should be attached to the implementation of the Guidebook in rural kindergartens, and increase support for rural kindergartens through expert guidance in tours and pairing between urban kindergartens and rural kindergartens. 3

Challenges and Stage II “Three-Year Action Plan”

Looking back on The Three-Year Action Plan, under the strong push by the state and government, all places have been actively pushing forward the implementation of all objectives, and preschool education has attracted unprecedented attention and achieved huge progress. Now Phase II Three-Year Action Plan of Preschool Education has also been implemented. However, due to the huge amount of debt owed in the past, preschool education has been marginalized. Therefore, it is still an issue of hot debate to further ensure the equal access to, and improve the quality of, preschool education in the implementation of Phase II Three-Year Action Plan.

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Optimize Resource Allocation and Promote the Balanced Development of Education Thanks to the implementation of The Three-Year Action Plan, many breakthroughs have been made in the investment in preschool education and the number of kindergartens surged. However, unbalanced allocation of resources still stood in the way of the implementation. To be specific, there were significant differences between provinces and the rural-urban divide was also big. Special mention should be made that some underdeveloped regions were unable to make due investment in preschool education due to their own economic limitations. Take Guizhou Province for example. It is put forward in its Three-Year Action Plan of Preschool Education that “no less than 50% of the various funds transferred from the rural taxation reform carried out by the state and provinces should be used to support the development of rural education.” However, the provision was only implemented in a few counties and cities, leading to major differences in the level of preschool education development among different places. For example, the gross enrollment rate of the three-year preschool education was 74.57% in Guiyang City, as high as 79% in Zunyi City, and only 69.9% in Qiannan Autonomous Prefecture.4 Besides, differences between kindergartens were also big. With the right and say to allocate resources, privileged kindergartens occupied most resources, resulting in the huge difference in the percentage of government spending on each child among kindergartens. For example, the Central China Normal University (华中 师大) subject group found through investigation and research in central China that in May 2012, a certain county in central China allocated all the government appropriations on preschool education, which was worth 600,000 yuan, to the only local public kindergarten. There were in total 8,746 kindergarten students in that county. Only 786 of them were studying in that public kindergarten. The per-student appropriation from government budget was 763.35 yuan, whereas children studying in other kindergartens did not get a single penny. In other words, 8.99% of the children in that county were enjoying all the child education funds from government functional departments.5 All these 3.1

4  Huang Sheng 黄胜, “Qiannanzhou xueqian jiaoyu sannian xingdong jihua shishi qingkuang fenxi yanjiu 黔南州学前教育三年行动计划实施情况分析研究 [Analysis and Study of the Implementation of the Three-Year Action Plan for Preschool Education in Qiannan Autonomous Prefecture],” Journal of Qiannan Normal University for Nationalities（ 《黔南民 族师范学院学报》）, No. 4 (2014). 5  Cai Yingqi & He Tingting 蔡迎旗, 何婷婷, “Woguo caizhengxing xueqian jiaoyu jingfei touru de gongpingxing fenxi 我国财政性学前教育经费投入的公平性分析 [Analysis of the Equality of Government Spending on Preschool Education in China],” Journal of Education Development, No. 7 (2013).

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phenomena happened in the course of the implementation of The Three-Year Action Plan. Undoubtedly, they run counter to its purpose and goal. Education is the fundamental means to improve the situation of the disadvantaged group.6 The Outline of China’s National Plan for Medium and Longterm Education Reform and Development: 2010–2020 regards “promoting equal access to education” as “the basic education policy of the state.” The ThreeYear Action Plan also made an effort to provide special funds for underdeveloped rural areas, regions inhabited by ethnic groups, children from families with economic difficulties in urban areas, children of migrant workers, and left-behind children. Yet in the implementation, such reasons as the lack of an investment guarantee mechanism for preschool education and unreasonable structure of the source of education funds still resulted in severe imbalance in the development of preschool education. The Phase II Three-Year Action Plan of Preschool Education put forward that priority should be given to the expansion of preschool education resources of public interest, while strengthening establishment of systems and mechanisms, so as to enable the distribution of kindergartens to meet the public’s demand for preschool education. It is hoped that through efforts made in the second phase, the goal of “serving the interests of the public” will be achieved. Implement the Qualification Standards for Kindergarten Teachers and Ensure Their Basic Rights For a long time, due to the lack of government-budgeted posts, low welfare and benefits package, as well as unstable income, most rural and non-state kindergartens have been suffering from the loss of many excellent teachers, a lack of teachers, and high turnover of teachers. Thus, they have a huge demand for full-time teachers. For example, a certain province in western China has 2,193 kindergarten teachers and administrative staff, whereas the total number of kindergarten pupils is 99,539, leading to a teacher-pupil ratio of 1:46. Of these teachers, only 1,314 are full-time teachers, 894 have received junior college education or above, 420 have not received senior high school education, and 643 are substitute teachers.7 Due to the substandard 3.2

6  Tian Weihong 田伟红, “Jiaoyu: Gaibian ruoshiqunti zhuangkuang de genben tujing 教育: 改变弱势群体状况的根本途径 [Education: The Fundamental Means to Improve the Wellbeing of the Disadvantaged Groups],” China Economist (《经济师》), No. 4 (2010). 7  Li Hongxia& Gao Xuechun 李红霞，高雪春, “Jiaoyu gongping shiyexia woguo pinkun diqu xueqian jiaoyu de fazhan kunjing 教育公平视野下我国贫困地区学前教育的发展困 境 [Barriers to the Development of Preschool Education in Poverty-Stricken Areas in China from the Perspective of Equal Access to Education],” The Guide of Science and Education 《科教导刊》 ( ), No. 11 (2013).

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teacher structure, some kindergartens either “focus on teaching at the expense of child care,” turn a blind eye to the characteristics and laws of children’s mental and physical development, and completely imitate “primary school teaching approaches” to educate pupils; some “only focus on child care at the expense of teaching,” babysit pupils, pay no attention to the cultivation of a good learning habit and development of high learning quality, and neglect the effectiveness of child education, thus depriving children of the possibility of better development; others, which lack education awareness, “pay attention to neither child care nor teaching,” and even take various extreme strategies to make children “listen,” leading to the occurrence of various kinds of “child abuse” incidents. Teachers are the key to the success of preschool education reform and development. Only by solving the problems of teachers can the quality of kindergarten education be ensured. It was pointed out in the Opinions on Strengthening the Development of Kindergarten Teachers 《关于加强幼儿园教师队伍建设 ( 意见》 ) jointly published by the Ministry of Education, the State Commission Office of Public Sectors Reform (中央编办), the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security that by 2015, the number of kindergarten teachers in China should basically meet the needs of kindergartens, full-time teachers should have the education background required by the state, and the proportion of teachers with professional titles should be notably increased, and that by 2020, a teaching staff characterized by love for children, noble teacher morality, fine business capacity, and reasonable structure. In the meantime, the Professional Standards for Kindergarten Teachers 《幼儿园教 ( 师专业标准》 ) promulgated in 2012 specified the basic professional qualities a qualified kindergarten teacher should possess from 14 areas and three dimensions, namely, professional concepts and teacher morality, professional knowledge, and professional ability. Besides, the interpretations of the Opinions on Implementing Phase II Three-Year Action Plan of Preschool Education 《关于 ( 实施第二期学前教育三年行动计划的意见》 ) also expressly put forward that “efforts should be made to address such issues as the income of kindergarten teachers as well as the guarantee for kindergarten operation.” It can thus be seen that the state not only identified the professional status of kindergarten teachers with relevant policies, but also put forward specific, detailed, and measurable requirements on the level of professionalism of kindergarten teachers. It is hoped that more laws and regulations aimed at safeguarding the rights of kindergarten teachers and regulating the obligations of kindergarten teachers will be introduced in Phase II Three-Year Action Plan to enable kindergarten teachers to truly resume their status as “teachers.”

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Formulate Quality Assessment Standards to Standardize Quality Control of Kindergartens With the implementation of The Three-Year Action Plan, the importance of preschool education has been widely recognized, and people have been calling for preschool education of higher quality. Due to increased attention from the state and the society, people have found that the quality of kindergartens varies and that “the difficulty and high cost of attending kindergartens” (“入园 难、入园贵”) is actually more “the difficulty and high cost of attending good kindergartens” (“入好园难、入好园贵”). Although there are kindergarten grade evaluation system and demonstrative evaluation system for assessing the quality of kindergartens and relevant management measures for examination of non-state kindergartens are available in various places, these systems mainly focus on such aspects as kindergarten conditions and finance management, the items do not cover details, and there is a lack of impartiality in the judgments made by the persons in charge of supervision. What is worse, different types of kindergartens vary in admission systems and operating standards. Most of them are even “substandard kindergartens” without the required qualifications and necessary supervision. Though such kindergartens have not acquired the recognition of relevant departments, it is an indispu­ table fact that they do exist and exist in a large number. It is precisely because of the lack of supervision that various kinds of vicious events are often seen in newspapers while preschool education receives widespread attention. Supervision of kindergartens’ quality must not be neglected in the course of the development of preschool education and increase of the number of kindergartens. As is pointed out in the Opinions on Developing Preschool Education at Present 《关于当前发展学前教育的若干意见》 ( ), efforts should be made to establish a child care quality evaluation and supervision system. The Phase II Three-Year Action Plan of Pre-school Education also bring forward that “county-level education administrative authorities should strengthen the dynamic monitoring and annual inspection of the school conditions, child care quality, qualifications of the teaching and administrative staff, salary and social security, and charging standards of various types of kindergartens.” It is hoped that education authorities in various regions will regard the establishment of a regular and full-coverage monitoring and evaluation system as a priority of their preschool education development in the future, and break down corresponding evaluation systems into specific and exercisable standards. Only with clear standards can subjectivity be reduced in the course of implementation and rural-urban differences, international differences, and regional differences be reduced in preschool education development. 3.3

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Improve Relevant Laws to Make Preschool Education System and Mechanism Applicable in the Long Term Thanks to the implementation of The Three-Year Action Plan, the coverage of preschool education enlarged and the number of kindergartens increased. Nevertheless, the lack of relevant laws has resulted in a series of problems, such as unbalanced development, lack of a guarantee mechanism, lack of guarantee for teachers’ social status and salary, and substandard quality supervision. Therefore, it is imperative to set up relevant laws on preschool education as soon as possible to ensure the healthy and stable development of preschool education.8 While formulating laws on preschool education, efforts should be made to determine the nature and position of preschool education, identify the government’s leading responsibility in preschool education development, the responsibilities of relevant departments, and the labor distribution and coordination mechanism, establish and improve the preschool education management system and mechanism, set up an investment system and guarantee mechanism characterized by a combination of government budget, social input, and proper contribution from parents, establish a kindergarten-running mechanism of relying mainly on public kindergartens with the joint development of public kindergartens and their non-state counterparts, clarify the rights of kindergarten teachers, such as their status, salary, and training titles, and put in place the monitoring and evaluation as well as accountability system for preschool education. Besides, laws should be set up to regulate preschool education management and improve preschool education quality, so as to facilitate the healthy and sustainable development of preschool education. Only by clarifying the above-mentioned basic issues in the course of preschool education development in the name of law can the obstacles to preschool education development be eliminated. 3.4

8  Yu Yongping 虞永平 “Yifa baozhang xueqian jiaoyu de wending fazhan 依法保障学前教育 的稳定发展 [Ensure the Stable Development of Preschool Education in Accordance with Law],” People’s Education《人民教育》 ( ), No. 11 (2013).

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Chapter 10

“International Oriented Classes” of Senior High Schools: Present Situation, Challenges, and Future Directions Wang Ming and Zhang Shanshan* Abstract “International oriented classes” of senior high schools have met the needs of some students to study abroad at present. But from a long-term point of view, it is imperative for senior high schools to clarify development objectives, establish a more standard curriculum model, and tighten tuition policies while introducing international compatible courses to run international classes. Only by so doing can “international oriented classes” of senior high schools enjoy healthy and orderly development.

Keywords international oriented classes – challenges – future directions

In recent years, “international oriented classes” of senior high schools have mushroomed in various places across China. On the one hand, they have met the needs of some students to study abroad; on the other hand, the introduction of international compatible courses through “international oriented classes” has pushed forward the curriculum reform of basic education. Therefore, the positive effect of “international oriented classes” of senior high schools should be fully recognized. But meanwhile, we should also acknowledge the fact that at present, the standards of “international oriented classes” of senior high schools differ, outstanding problems exist in such aspects as teaching, management, qualified teachers, and charging standards, and the *  Wang Ming 汪明, research fellow of the Education Development Research Center, Ministry of Education (教育部教育发展研究中心); Zhang Shanshan 张珊珊, deputy director of the evaluation department of Basic Education Textbook Development Center, Ministry of Education (教育部基础教育课程教材发展中心).

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2019 | doi:10.1163/9789004389021_011

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development direction is still uncertain. Thus, it is the responsibility of not only the education authorities, but also senior high schools themselves to carefully study the future development direction of “international oriented classes” of senior high schools by analyzing their status quo and problems. 1

The Status Quo of “International Oriented Classes” of Senior High Schools

Drivers for the Emergence of “International Oriented Classes” of Senior High Schools Studying abroad has become a new demand for further study among senior high school graduates, and this demand has been on the continuous increase. This is the direct driver for the emergence of “international oriented classes” of senior high schools. According to the statistics released by the Ministry of Education, there were 413,000 Chinese students studying abroad in 2013, an increase of 3.58%; the percentage of Chinese postgraduates studying abroad significantly dropped, whereas the number of students pursuing undergraduate study and below abroad significantly increased. According to the report entitled Open Doors《门户开放》 ( ) jointly published by American International Education Society (美国国际教育学会) and The United States Department of State (美国国务院), from the academic year of 2012 to that of 2013, around 820,000 international students were studying in the United States, of whom Chinese students were the most. To be specific, the number was 236,000, taking up 28.7% of all international students in the U.S. and an increase of 21% over the previous year. And the growth rate of the number of undergraduates was 26%. Although there are differences in the specific conditions of senior high school graduates from various places in China studying abroad, common characteristics and trends can still be found. In recent years, overseas study of senior high school graduates from China has exhibited “three significant increases.” First, the total number of people studying abroad has significantly increased; second, the number of outstanding senior high school graduates studying abroad has significantly increased; third, the number of Chinese students studying in renowned schools aboard has significantly increased. Third, the backgrounds of the families of senior high school graduates studying abroad have become more and more diverse, including not only well-off families, but also middle-income ones, such as civil servants, various kinds of professionals, and teachers. What are the motivations for parents to send their children abroad for study? In general, the main motivations are as follows: First, they hope that their children can receive higher education of higher quality. Currently, 1.1

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there is still a long way for China’s higher education to reach the standards of its counterparts in some developed countries. In particular, China is now confronted with a severe shortage of quality higher education resources. It can hardly be compared to the renowned schools abroad. Many parents are convinced that sending children to study abroad can enable them to receive higher education of higher quality. Second, parents hope that their children can have better employment prospects. Currently, the employment situation of Chinese college graduates concerns many parents. It might be difficult for graduates to find a good job with a college degree only. Because of this, many parents hope that overseas study experience can help improve their children’s employment competitiveness. Third, parents hope to exempt their children from the pain of China’s Gaokao (college entrance examination). At present, competition is exceptionally fierce in China’s Gaokao. It goes without saying that students need to make a lot of painstaking efforts to enter a renowned college or university. Instead of letting children go through the heavy study burden and excessive study pressure, it is a better choice for parents to send their children abroad. In addition, some parents simply follow the trend. In other words, they send their children abroad simply because they regard it as a popular choice. It should be acknowledged that apart from the factors of education itself, the significant increase in the number of senior high school graduates studying abroad is closely related to the economic development status, residents’ income level, and the degree of China’s openness to the outside world. Some Asian countries and regions, such as Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines, all experienced a period of rapid increase in the number of students studying aboard with their continuous economic growth. Presently, China is also in the middle of such a period. It is precisely in this context that the “international oriented classes” of senior high schools come into being. 1.2 The Number of “International Oriented Classes” of Senior High Schools As students’ demand for studying aboard increase, “international oriented classes” of senior high schools have started to mushroom in China. Both the number of international oriented classes and that of enrolled students have increased year by year. Geographically speaking, “international oriented classes” of senior high schools have been developing fast in Tier-1 cities, and there is a trend of expansion of “international oriented classes” of senior high schools in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. According to an investigation by Shanghai Normal University (上海师大), in total 21 regular senior high schools in Shanghai offer international oriented classes. To be specific, eight are non-state senior high schools and 13 are public senior high schools. Seen from the situation in various places, over Dongping Yang - 978-90-04-38902-1 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 11:15:48AM via free access

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20 international courses have been introduced, and around 300 schools have set up various kinds of “international oriented classes.” According to the Report on the Trend of Studying Abroad in 2014 《 ( 2014年出 国留学趋势报告》 ) published by China’s Education Online (中国教育在线), by 2013, there were 17 public senior high schools with a total of 22 “international oriented classes.” Within the five years between 2009 and 2013, the number of “international oriented classes” set up by public senior high schools in Beijing had increased to 16, over 2.5 times more than the number before 2009. The speed of increase had also maintained at a very high level. In 2009, only nine public senior high schools in Beijing set up “international oriented classes.” Apart from the relatively slower increase in 2012, when only two new “international oriented classes” were added, the number of new “international oriented classes” opened in other years was kept between four and five. With the increase in the number of “international oriented classes” of senior high schools, the number of enrolled students has also been increasing year by year. From 2009 to 2013, the number of new students the “international oriented classes” of public senior high schools in Beijing planned to enroll increased rapidly. In 2009, the “international oriented classes” of public senior high schools in Beijing planned to enroll 440 new students, whereas the number increased to 1,355 in 2013, almost three times of that in 2009. In Tier-II and Tier-III cities, “international oriented classes” of senior high schools are also increasing fast. In 2002, the first “international oriented classes” of senior high schools was set up in Nanjing. After more than ten years of development, the number of “international oriented classes” of senior high schools in Nanjing had increased to 18 by 2012, and enrollment also reached 575 in that year. In 2011, there were 13 senior high schools in Zhengzhou, with a total of 24 “international oriented classes,” whereas in 2010, there were only nine senior high schools with 16 “international oriented classes.” Besides, some underdeveloped cities in central and western China have also seen the emergence of “international oriented classes” of senior high schools, such as Guiyang, Urumqi, and Yinchuan. 1.3 The Types of “International Oriented Classes” of Senior High Schools 1. International course classes: As more and more senior high school graduates go to study abroad, the “international oriented classes” of senior high schools have become more and more popular, reflected in more and more applicants as well as higher and higher admission standards. “International Oriented Classes” aimed at senior high school students are various, mainly including the following types: The first is substitute courses, which are international compatible courses taught to substitute local courses. This type includes American Dongping Yang - 978-90-04-38902-1 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 11:15:48AM via free access

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AP courses, British A-level courses, Canadian BC courses, PGA courses, and IB courses. The second type is integrated courses, which are courses integrated from international compatible courses and local courses. In the course of integration, some subjects are eliminated and some subjects from local courses are added, and credit system is implemented. The third type is exam preparatory courses, which are international exam courses developed under the premise of not changing the local core courses. Some schools provide the American Scholastic Aptitude Test, of which the test results can be used as reference for the application into American universities. 1.4 “Dual-Degree Sino-Foreign Joint Senior High School Programs” Dual-degree Sino-foreign joint senior high school programs are a result of the direct cooperation between domestic senior high schools and schools abroad. Cases in point include Sino-foreign experimental class jointly established by Capital Normal University High School (首师大附中) in Beijing and Germantown Academy in the United States (美国捷门棠学校) as well as the Sino-American high school experimental courses jointly developed by Beijing National Day School and Wasatch Academy in the United States (美国万山赤中学). These Sino-foreign cooperative programs are included in the senior high school universal enrollment plan. Students will be awarded the graduation certificates of both countries after completing their study tasks and passing the exam. Take Beijing No. 35 Middle School (北京三十五中) for example. It co-developed “Sino-American Dual-Degree International High School Courses” with Keystone National High School in the United States (美国凯沙通高中) and carried out course integration and credit mutual recognition. The Sino-American Dual-Degree International High School Courses consists of four modules, namely, Chinese high school basic courses, American high school characteristic courses, youth quality education courses, and Chinese national culture and art courses. The courses are either mandatory or elective. In the whole course system, Chinese high school basic courses are mandatory, including all the subjects for high school general examination, which take up 81% of all the courses. In comparison, American high school characteristic courses are elective. 2

Major Challenges Confronting “International Oriented Classes” of Senior High Schools

Currently, understanding and opinions differ regarding whether public senior high schools should provide “international oriented classes” and whether the “international oriented classes” run by public senior high schools should Dongping Yang - 978-90-04-38902-1 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 11:15:48AM via free access

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charge high tuitions. Practices are also different in different places. In 2014, places including Beijing consecutively published the notice to stop the examination and approval of “international oriented classes” of senior high schools. It can be said that it has been put on the agenda of education authorities in various places to further standardize the management of “international oriented classes” of senior high schools. In the face of the huge market demand for further study abroad and the urgent requirement for standardizing the management of “international oriented classes” of senior high schools, what are the challenges confronting the “international oriented classes” of senior high schools in various places? 2.1 The Challenge of Ensuring Fairness With the increased number of “international oriented classes” of senior high schools, there has been a heated debate over whether public senior high schools should provide “international oriented classes”? Seen from the need to satisfy the diversified development of senior high school students, public senior high schools shoulder their own important responsibilities. As a matter of fact, students’ need for further study abroad is also a specific representation of the diversified needs. Besides, currently a group of excellent senior high schools possess some advantages and conditions for providing “international oriented classes.” It is a matter of course for them to take the imitative to utilize these resources wisely. Nevertheless, some people hold the view that students’ need for further study abroad is but a selective need, which should mainly be met by non-state schools or private training institutions. If public senior high schools provide “international oriented classes,” they are inevitably suspected of freeloading public education resources, which jeopardizes education equality. It is indeed an issue of concern whether the public senior high schools providing “international oriented classes” will jeopardize education equality. Seen from the specific practices of some public senior high schools, due to the lack of accurate positioning of the “international oriented classes,” schools tend to allocate excessive school teaching resources to them, causing impact to the regular teaching of schools and generating questioning from the society and parents. At present, it is an important premise to ensure equality to further clarify the positioning of “international oriented classes” of senior high schools, reasonably allocate school teaching resources, and prevent the impact on regular teaching of schools. Besides, while introducing international compatible courses to run “international oriented classes,” public senior high schools need to charge students extra high tuitions. This kind of practice may seem to be in line with the principle of equality. But in fact, it stands in the way of standardizing senior high school tuition charges and is thus unsustainable. Dongping Yang - 978-90-04-38902-1 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 11:15:48AM via free access

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From the long-term perspective, while introducing international compatible courses, public senior high schools should not only satisfy certain students’ needs for further study abroad like what simple “study abroad preparatory classes” do. They should also better satisfy and serve the learning needs of all students and continuously be dedicated to deepening course reform. In realizing the benign interactions between introducing international compatible courses and deepening course reform, some senior high schools that have conducted beneficial explorations and achieved positive results should make a conclusion of their experience in time. 2.2 The Challenge of Course Management At present, “international oriented classes” of public senior high schools mainly include three types of courses, namely, substitute courses, integrated courses, and exam preparatory courses. Although these three courses have their own characteristics, they are all confronted with some prominent challenges. To some extent, both substituting local courses with international compatible courses and integrating domestic courses with international compatible courses are confronted with the challenge of how to cater to the curriculum planning of senior high schools in China and the standards of various subjects. It is an issue that senior high schools should ponder over and study while providing “international oriented classes” to ensure the enough supply of senior high school courses. Besides, the mere supply of international exam courses is, to some extent, the shift of domestic examination-oriented education to foreign examination-oriented education. As international exam courses are also one of the course model of “international oriented classes” of senior high schools, we should carefully analyze and study the practical relevance and values of introducing them to China. 2.3 The Challenge of Regulating Charging Standards Currently, there are no uniform charging standards for “international oriented classes” of senior high schools in different places. Most of them charge students very high tuitions. According to the Report on the Trend of Studying Abroad in 2014 published by China’s Education Online, the tuitions of most “international oriented classes” of public senior high schools in Beijing were somewhere between 80,000 Yuan and 100,000 Yuan per academic year, much higher than the tuition of regular senior high schools in Beijing, which was 800 Yuan per academic year. To be specific, only 10% of the “international oriented classes” of public senior high schools in Beijing charge less than 80,000 Yuan per academic year; 35% of them charge between 80,000 Yuan and 90,000 Yuan per academic year; 40% of them change between 90,000 Yuan and 100,000 Yuan per academic year; and another 15% charge 100,000 Yuan per Dongping Yang - 978-90-04-38902-1 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 11:15:48AM via free access

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academic year. To conclude, 90% of the “international oriented classes” of public senior high schools in Beijing charge between 80,000 Yuan and 100,000 Yuan per academic year. In the national context, tuitions vary a lot as “international oriented classes” of senior high schools lack basis for school-running cost verification and charging standards identification. In the face of the high tuitions, some “international oriented classes” of senior high schools fall behind in teaching and management. The problem of “high cost and low quality” has frequently generated questioning from the society. Relevant departments need to pay attention to this. 3

Future Direction of “International Oriented Classes” of Senior High Schools

Given that some “international oriented classes” of senior high schools are confronted with prominent challenges in such aspects as charging standards, teaching, management, and teachers, it has become an urgent task to further standardize the management of “international oriented classes” of senior high schools. The Owners of “International Oriented Classes” of Public Senior High Schools Should Be Further Clarified As “international oriented classes” are held by public senior high schools, their owners are certainly senior high schools. The challenge at present is, due to such restrictions as the lack of course resources and the difficulty of foreign teacher examination and approval, many public senior high schools find it difficult to meet the needs of “international oriented classes” by themselves. It is a common choice for them to cooperate with other social institutions across various places. In essence, this type of school-running should be regarded as not only cooperation between schools and social institutions but also schools’ procurement of education service from social institutions. Be it cooperation or procurement of service, it is just an agreement between schools and social institutions. Yet for parents, senior high schools are the owners of “international oriented classes.” It is precisely because of this that it is obviously inappropriate for some “international oriented classes” of senior high schools to entrust social institutions to directly charge parents tuitions in practice. The reason for schools to resort to this practice is to avoid the risk of charging fees in violation of relevant regulations. Still, they are suspected of arbitrary charges. 3.1

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Course Management of “International Oriented Classes” of Public Senior High Schools Should Be Further Improved While introducing international compatible courses, public senior high schools should not only satisfy some students’ needs for further study abroad, but also meet the need for senior high school course reform. Therefore, no matter what course pattern is chosen, efforts should be made to prevent turning “international oriented classes” of senior high schools into “study abroad preparatory classes.” It should be pointed out that if “international oriented classes” of public senior high schools just simply provide some international exam courses, it will not be of much help to drawing upon experience from international compatible courses and deepening senior high school course reform. Furthermore, such trainings as TOFEL, IELTS, and SAT can absolutely be undertaken by social training institutions. It is unnecessary for public senior high schools to get involved. While providing “international oriented classes,” senior high schools should open enough mandatory courses in accordance with the national, provincial, and municipal regulations on courses and credits for regular senior high schools. Besides, credit mutual recognition can be adopted to introduce international compatible courses of subjects such as Math and Sciences as well as some elective courses. All international compatible courses introduced through the credit mutual recognition method should be examined and approved by provincial education authorities. At present, the main purpose of further strengthening the regulation and management on the introduction of international compatible courses is to enable the curriculum, class hour arrangements, and credit mutual recognition of “international oriented classes” of senior high schools to be more scientific, reasonable, standard, and orderly. 3.2

Charging Standards of “International Oriented Classes” of Public Senior High Schools Should Be Further Regulated So, how should we standardize the charges of “international oriented classes” of public senior high schools? As a pioneer in this regard, Shanghai Municipality has accumulated beneficial experience. With the purpose of deepening course reform, Shanghai Municipality encouraged public schools to conduct international course exploration while having strict requirements on charging standards. In accordance with the stipulations of Shanghai Municipality, “international oriented classes” provided by public senior high schools shall not charge students extra fees. This practice agrees with the positioning of “international oriented classes” of public senior high schools and is in line with the objective and value orientation of introducing international compatible courses. 3.3

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With the advancement in the standardization and management of “international oriented classes” of senior high schools, their charges will also be further regulated. Seen from the development direction in the future, some “international oriented classes” of public senior high schools that meet the requirements can transform into Sino-foreign joint education programs on the basis of gradual standardization. Yet in order to provide Sino-foreign joint education programs, they need to perform relevant approval and documentation procedures and run schools and charge fees in strict compliance with the specific stipulations in the Regulations on Sino-foreign Cooperation in Running Schools《中外合作办学条例》 ( ). Some “international oriented classes” of public senior high schools that possess the conditions for separation can divorce from the original public schools and gradually transform into nonstate education providers. However, these “international oriented classes” of public senior high schools aiming to transform into non-state education providers must truly realize independent school running and charge fees in strict accordance with the school running regulations and requirements of nonstate schools. With the change of school positioning, strict requirements on charges will be introduced to most “international oriented classes” of public senior high schools. In other words, “international oriented classes” of pub­ lic senior high schools shall no longer charge students extra fees. “International Oriented Classes” of Public Senior High Schools Should Strengthen Their Sense of Self-discipline It seems that most of the questioning parents raised against “international oriented classes” are targeted at schools’ cooperative partners. It is precisely because schools are the owners of “international oriented classes” that they should reflect upon the question whether there is oversight in the management of “international oriented classes.” In recent years, “international oriented classes” of public senior high schools are notorious for high tuitions, low ranks of teachers, and low-quality teaching. This points to the fact that while providing “international oriented classes,” some public senior high schools lack self-discipline and sound management. The irregular school-running behaviors of “international oriented classes” have not only harmed the interests of parents and students, but also jeopardized the reputation of schools. Thus, it is necessary to kill the cases at birth. 3.4

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Chapter 11

Influences of Household Registration Reform on the Education for Children of Peasant Migrants Zhao Han and Zhou Tian Abstract In the rapid process of China’s urbanization, the education opportunity for the large number of children of peasant migrants (农民工随迁子女) has attracted a lot of public attention. The new household registration (Hukou) reform (户籍改革) rein­ forced the “strict population control in megacities.” Such megacities as Beijing and Shanghai have launched a new campaign to drive the low-end working population out of town, and Beijing had begun to set extremely high thresholds for children of peasant migrants to attend public schools. In this context, it has become an urgent issue to be addressed in the process of urbanization to safeguard the rights for schoolage children without urban Hukou to receive compulsory education.

Keywords household registration (Hukou) reform – education of children of peasant migrants – population control in megacities

In the course of China’s urbanization, hundreds of millions of migrant labor­ ers (打工者) flood into cities in the pursuit of better jobs and higher living standards. These people contribute to the building and maintenance of social modernization. According to the sampling survey of the National Bureau of Statistics, the number of peasant migrants in 2013 was 26,894—16,610 of whom worked out of their hometowns and 10,284 of whom were local peasant work­ ers. Over half of the peasant migrants who worked out of their hometowns were employed in medium-and-large-sized cities. However, they were denied the right to equally share the public services for urban residents. What is worse, *  Zhao Han 赵晗, public policy journalist of Caixin Media Co., Ltd. (财新传媒有限公司). Zhou Tian 周天, public policy journalist of Caixin Media Co., Ltd.

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2019 | doi:10.1163/9789004389021_012

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their descendants were called “migrant children” (流动儿童), or children of peasant migrants. The education for children of peasant migrants has become the most prominent issue in the endeavor to ensure equal access to education. In order to ensure compulsory education for school-age migrant children, the State Council confirmed the “two dependents” principle in 2011, namely, “depending on local governments and depending on full-time public primary and second­ ary schools.”1 In recent years, there have been more access to compulsory edu­ cation for children of migrant peasants. At present, the challenge for ensuring access to compulsory education for children of migrant peasants remains huge in megacities with a large migrant population, such as Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou. On July 30, 2014, the Opinions of the State Council on Further Pushing Forward Household Registration System Reform 《国务院关于进一步推进户籍制度改 ( 革的意见》 ) (hereinafter referred to as the Opinions) was officially promul­ gated. The Opinions requires that by 2020, efforts should be made to enable around 100 million peasant migrants and other permanent urban residents to settle down in cities. The Opinions also sets forth that peasant migrants and other permanent urban residents shall enjoy the same access to education as their urban counterparts. In this context, what are the changes in the educa­ tion policies on migrant children in Beijing and Shanghai? What are the new backgrounds and new trends in the reform of basic education governance indicated by the Opinions? What are the disputes in the education for migrant children highlighted in the course of rapid urbanizations? 1

Challenges Confronting the Education for Children of Peasant Migrants

Currently, China’s urbanization rate is around 53.7%. Yet according to the rules of urbanization rate in various countries, before it reaches 60% to 70%, China will remain in the period of rapid urbanization. In other words, in quite a long period in the future, there will still be migrants entering cities rapidly. Besides, only 36% of China’s population has urban Hukou, which means that 17% of Chinese are living in cities without local Hukou. These group of people are known as migrant population without local Hukou, and the education for their children is a huge concern.

1  Ministry of Education 教育部, “Guanyu jichu jiaoyu gaige yu fazhan de jueding 关于基础教 育改革与发展的决定 [Decisions on the Reform and Development of Basic Education].” Dongping Yang - 978-90-04-38902-1 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 11:15:48AM via free access

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1.1 A Huge Number of Migrant Workers and Migrant Children According to the data collected from 2010 Population Census (2010年人口普 查), the number of migrant children under 17 was 358.1 million, which means that there were 13 migrant children out of every 100 children. In 2013, there were in total 245 million migrants in China, more than 1/6 of China’s popula­ tion. And the percentage of migrant children was also on the increase. The percentage of children between 6 and 15 moving with their migrant parents reached 62.5% in 2013, an increase of 5.2% compared to 2011. According to Statistical Report on National Education Undertakings in 2013 (2013年全国教 育事业统计报告), there were in total 12.7717 million migrant children among the current students in the compulsory education period, of whom 9.3085 mil­ lion were primary school students and 3.4631 million were junior high school students.2 Statistics from the Ministry of Education show that the percentage of these students attending urban public schools was 79.2% in 2011 and reached 80.4% in 2013.3 In other words, still 20% of migrant children were not able to attend public schools to receive qualified education. Instead, they could only attend approved or unapproved non-state schools for children of peasant migrants. In 2010, there were 124 schools for children of peasant migrants in Beijing with around 100,000 students;4 whereas the number in Shanghai was 157, with around 140,000 children of peasant migrants. In such economically advanced cities as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, the number of migrant children are on the increase. Beijing has a permanent population of around 20 million, of whom around eight million (about 1/3) are permanent residents without local Hukou. The percentage of non-local pri­ mary school students in Beijing increased from 11.3% in 2001 to 39.65% in 2012, which was 324,000. The percentage of non-local junior high school students in Beijing increased from 3.4% to 30.46%, which was 93,000. In 2011, there were around 95,000 primary school students in Beijing, of whom 47.6% did not have local Hukou.5 In 2011, the number of primary school students in graduating classes was around 102,194, of whom 34,181 did not have local Hukou, taking up 33.4%. At present, the percentage of students without local Hukou in the compulsory education stage in Beijing is as high as over 40%. 2  Statistical Report on National Education Undertakings in 2013 (2013年全国教育事业统计报 告), July 2014. Available on the web portal of the Ministry of Education. 3  “Sanbuwei jieda zhengfu ruhewei nongmingong jiejue houguzhiyou 三部委解答政府 如何为农民工解决后顾之忧 [Three Ministries and Commissions Provide Solutions to Addressing the Worries of Migrant Workers],” March 2014. Policy Research & Exploration 《决策探索》 ( ) (First Half-year). 4  Data provided by the New Citizen Program of Public Interest Groups (公益组织新公民 计划). 5  Data released by Beijing Municipal Education Commission in 2011. Dongping Yang - 978-90-04-38902-1 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 11:15:48AM via free access

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The situation in Shanghai is very similar to that in Beijing. By the end of 2013, there were 24.1515 million permanent residents in Shanghai, of whom 14.2514 million had local Hukou and 9.9001 million were immigrants.6 According to estimation, the percentage of students without local Hukou in the compulsory education stage in Shanghai was around 45%. 1.2 Household Registration System Reform and Population Mobility China’s household registration system reform mainly consists of two aspects. The first is to gradually open up the requirements on obtaining local Hukou by starting with small cities and towns. As early as in 2001, the Central Government required to fully advance household registration system reform in small cities and towns, according to which immediate relatives that met the requirements could apply for permanent urban Hukou. In 2008, medium-sized cities were also included in the reform coverage. The second aspect is to separate house­ hold registration from welfares so as to push forward the equalization of basic public services. The policy is so designed that residence permit will become an important carrier for residents without local Hukou to obtain public services. In 2006, it was put forward in the Opinions of the State Council on Addressing the Issues Related to Peasant Migrants 《国务院关于解决农民工问题的若干 ( 意见》 ) that peasant migrants should be included in the urban public service system. However, it was very difficult to implement the residence permit sys­ tem nationwide. Even in some places where the residence permit system has already been implemented, it is still hard to achieve full coverage of public services and welfares. According to surveys, the destinations of migrant population have not changed on the whole. In particular, more migrant workers are going to such megacities as Beijing and Shanghai. The Report on the Development of China’s Migrant Population 《中国流动人口发展报告》 ( ) compiled by National Health and Family Planning Commission of the People’s Republic of China (国家卫计 委) points out that at present, China’s new generation of migrant population have taken up over 50% of China’s total migrant population. Compared to the older generation, the new generation of migrants prefer big cities. And more than 70% of them have the willingness to settle down in big cities. The Report indicates that most of the new generation of migrants have a stable life and work in their chosen cities, far from rural areas and agricultural production. Thus, most of them do not have the willingness to return to country life, let 6  “2013 nian shanghaishi guominjingji he shehuifazhantongjigongbao2013 年上海市国民经 济和社会发展统计公报 [Statistical Communiqué of Shanghai Municipality on the 2013 National Economic and Social Development].”

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alone the impossibility of return anyway. Different from the model of “earn­ ing money in cities and spending money in hometowns” among the previous generation of migrant population, the new generation of migrants’ pattern of consumption is closer to that of young people in cities. Besides, as most of these new generation of migrants who were born after the 1980s are now in the stage of marriage and childbirth, which are important stages of their life, their needs for basic public services such as education for their children have been increasing. This is a big challenge for city governments. The Opinions also put forward that requirements on obtaining Hukou in designated towns (建制镇) and small cities (500,000) should be fully opened up whereas new restrictions should be imposed on cities with a population of over half a million. Mr. Ma Li, Counselor of the State Council once said to the press that now restrictions in small-and-medium-sized cities as well as small townships in Eastern China have not been removed whereas people are not willing to go to Western China where policy is implemented. 2

Influences of the Opinions on Children of Peasant Migrants in Big Cities

The Sword of Damocles (达摩克利斯宝剑) for Population Control in Big Cities On December 14, 2013, the Central Work Conference on Urbanization (中 央城镇化工作会议) was held in Beijing, which set forth the development principle of in situ urbanization (就地城镇化) and formulated the develop­ ment strategy of “fully opening up the restrictions for obtaining local Hukou in designated towns and small cities, orderly opening up the restrictions on obtaining local Hukou in medium-sized cities, reasonably determining the conditions for obtaining Hukou in big cities, and strictly controlling the popu­ lation in megacities.” The Decisions put forward in The Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee (十八届三中全会) determined the guiding principle of “strictly controlling the population in megacities.” This thought is further reflected in the Opinions. The Opinions explicitly indicates that measures should be taken to “strictly control the population in megacities.” Besides, the Plan for China’s New-Type Urbanization: 2014–2020《国家新型城镇 ( 化规划 （2014–2020年）》) promulgated on March 16, 2014 also put forward that “measures should be taken to strictly control the population in the city zone of megacities with a population of over five million.” The major thought of Beijing’s population control is to manage people with policies, control population with jobs, and manage people with houses. To be 2.1

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specific, industry structure should be adjusted and wholesale markets of lowend industries with a lot of people will be moved to Hebei. A mechanism for allocation of government investment and public resources related to popu­ lation control will be established and responsibilities of districts and coun­ ties will be clarified. Besides, the government will continue to govern group rent houses and implement the residence permit system. Education policies for migrant population are also to be adjusted. The measure of “population control through education” is derived from the multiple ways adopted by city government. In other words, the government intends to drive away some peas­ ant migrants’ families by restricting their children’s access to primary schools. Higher Admission Standards for Children in Megacities without Local Hukou This measure means to fully tighten policies on school admission of children of migrants. In 2014, Beijing education authorities required that school-age children without local Hukou must provide “five certificates”7 in order to receive compulsory education, namely, proof of employment in Beijing of the parents or other legal guardians of school-age children, actual proof of resi­ dence in Beijing, the whole family’s household registration booklet, tempo­ rary residence permit in Beijing, and proof of non-guardianship in local place issued by the street office or township government of the registered perma­ nent residence. This document was issued on May 1, less than one month after the admission registration time. It killed the possibility of post registration of the abovementioned certificates. The explanation of this provided by Beijing Municipal Education Commission is: “under the premise of a lack of education resources, with con­ sideration of the functional positioning as well as the economic and resource characteristics of the capital city, Beijing put forward relevant requirements on the examination of proofs and certificates for children of migrant workers to receive compulsory education as well as published and regulated work pro­ cedures with a view to safeguarding the rights of children of migrant workers that meet the requirements to receive compulsory education.” In addition, various districts and counties in Beijing introduced detailed rules and regulations on the basis of the basic requirements of the whole city one after another. Take Tongzhou District for example, the detailed rules and regulations on the “five certificates” of its admission to primary schools include specific requirements on the location for parents to pay social insurance fees, 2.2

7  “Beijingshi jiaowei guanyu 2014 nian yiwujiaoyu jieduan ruxue gongzuo de yijian 北京市教 委关于2014年义务教育阶段入学工作的意见 [Opinions of Beijing Municipal Education Commission on the Enrollment Work at the Compulsory Education Stage in 2014].” Dongping Yang - 978-90-04-38902-1 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 11:15:48AM via free access

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requiring that the location must be “within the local district.” This means that even if parents have the five certificates, their children still cannot attend schools if parents do not pay their social insurance in Tongzhou. Tongzhou is known to all as the “sleeping city.” As the housing rent is relatively low, employ­ ment opportunities are few, and most people are working in other districts, only few parents are actually living in Tonghzou District and paying social insurance locally. A similar example is Fengtai District, which require parents to work locally. In comparison, Chaoyang District requires both parents to pay social insurance locally, Dongcheng District even requires both parents to work and live locally, whereas Changping District requires that the tempo­ rary residence permit should be obtained before 2013. The effects were immediate. Take admission to primary schools for example. In 2013, Beijing admitted 74,890 children without local Hukou, taking up 45% of all the students it admitted. However, by May 27, 2014, right before the deadline for school-age population information collection, only 58,274 children without local Hukou participated in information collection and obtained admission qualifications, less than 38% of all the children who had participated in the information collection, a decrease of 7% compared to the previous year. In the meantime, implementation of the electronic student registration system has become a new means for driving away school-age children with­ out local Hukou. In accordance with the Student Registration Management Measures for Primary and Junior High School Students 《中小学生学籍管理办 ( 法》 ) printed and distributed by the Ministry of Education in August 2013, a nationwide web-based student registration information management system should be established where one student gets one number for life, and the sys­ tem should be used nationwide starting from September 1, 2014. This system enables the local education authorities to have the right to log in the student registration system so that the city governments will be able to restrict the enrollment of migrant children by controlling student registration distribu­ tion. The students who were attending non-state schools for children of peas­ ant migrants will be able to continue their study even if they have not obtained the student registration in the city until they go back to the place where their residence is registered to take part in senior high school entrance examina­ tion and college entrance examination at the end of their primary school years or after they have entered junior high schools. However, the new student reg­ istration management measures require that school transfer must be made through the student registration system. Without student registration, these students will not be able to transfer to another school even after they go back to where their residence is registered. Schools in Shanghai have also required higher admission standards. The policy between 2008 and 2013 was: “Any child of peasant migrants who can Dongping Yang - 978-90-04-38902-1 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 11:15:48AM via free access

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provide the proof of his/her parents’ identity as peasants, their residence per­ mits in Shanghai, or their employment certificates can receive free compulsory education in Shanghai.” However, the Implementation Opinions on Admission and Enrollment Work of the City at the Compulsory Stage in 2014《关于 ( 2014年本 市义务教育阶段学校招生入学工作的实施意见》 ) promulgated on December 3, 2013, changed the previous policy into residence permit policy, in accor­ dance with which children of peasant migrants are required to provide one of their parents’ “Shanghai Residence Permit”《上海市居住证》 ( ) within the valid­ ity period or one of their parents’ “Temporary Shanghai Residence Permit” ( 《上海市临时居住证》 ) that was obtained earlier than two years ago. The main criteria include “having paid local employee social insurance fee for at least six months” or “having obtained the permit for at least two years” starting from the date of issuance of the residence permit to August 30, 2014. As to the latest updates of Beijing and Shanghai, Mr. Fu Weigang, executive president and research fellow of SIFL Institute (上海金融与法律研究院) does not have a positive attitude. According to Mr. Fu, the newly introduced resi­ dence permit system is a good idea because this tool can help achieve coverage of some basic public services for people without local Hukou at the institutional level, and its most important function is to provide access to education for their children. However, it should not be neglected that the residence permit system has resulted in increased difficulty for the children of migrants to attend schools because it is difficult in itself for them to obtain residence permit. Shanghai is one of the earliest cities to implement the residence permit system. Now it has a total number of 11.0009 million residents without local Hukou, of whom 1.0714 million have “Shanghai Residence Permit,” and 4.5602 million have temporary residence permit, and up to 5.3693 million do not have permits. In accordance with the Measures for Managing Residence Permit in Shanghai《上海市居住证 ( 管理办法》 ), it is not difficult to apply for residence permit. Those who are “living in Shanghai stably in accordance with the law and have a stable job in Shanghai in accordance with the law” are able to apply and obtain residence permit. Even so, why up to now around 90% of the people without local Hukou have not applied for and obtained residence permit? According to Mr. Fu Weigang’s analysis, migrants needs to provide a proof of their intention to stay in local residence for more than six months to prove that they are “living in Shanghai stably in accordance with the law,” such as the record of house leasing contract. This rule seems reasonable. But in actual operation, due to complicated matters such as tax payment and joint rent, landlords are often not willing to cooperate with tenants to have the house leasing recorded. For another example, the basements in Beijing accommodate a large num­ ber of migrants, though this type of residence does not meet the requirements

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for residence permit issuance. The other requirement for applying for resi­ dence permit is to “have a stable job in accordance with the law.” This rule is also a challenge for many people. Currently, the non-official departments in Beijing and Shanghai have accommodated a large number of employees, such as vendors, self-employed people, waiters and waitresses, hospital nurses, and housekeepers, who can barely get proof of employment or social insurance. As a matter of fact, even residence permit is hard to get for them. Many household registration experts believe that “the rule on strictly con­ trolling population in megacities” is a reflection of the mindset of excluding low-end employees. Be it the point-based Hukou system that values academic background or the speedy Hukou system for returned overseas Chinese schol­ ars, or the Hukou system for fresh graduates or even the residence permit system, all have regarded driving away low-end employees as the objective of population control, yet the majority of migrants are low-end employees. Take Guangzhou for example. The registered migrant population has exceeded six million, most of whom have not finished senior high school study, and only 10% have junior college degree or above.8 It can be foreseen that if this though goes unchanged, it will still be difficult to safeguard the education rights of children of the low-end employees. It will possibly be even harder for children of peasant migrants to receive education. 2.3 The Education Planning and Finance Situation of Megacities The reason for megacities to restrict enrollment of school-age children is the crowdedness of cities and lack of resources. However, what stands in stark con­ trast to this is that the root cause for megacities to continuously reduce educa­ tion supply is the lack of investment in education resources and inappropriate education plans. Take Beijing for example. Under the strict family planning policy, the percentage of primary school students with local Hukou has been on the decrease year by year, and some public schools in core areas struggle to attract enough students. From 1995 to 2012, Beijing’s population had increased by 65%, yet the number of new primary school students decreased from 168,000 to 142,000, whereas the number of primary schools dropped from 2,867 to 1,081, a decrease of 62%. The number of full-time primary school teachers decreased from 62,000 to 47,000, a decrease of 24%. From 2003 to 2012, of which statistics are available, the number of junior high schools in Beijing dropped from 434 to 341, a decline of 21%; and the number of junior high school teachers shrank from 34,000 to 20,000, a decrease of 41%. This change obviously runs counter 8  A 2013 investigation by Mr. Duan Huaming, Vice President of Guangdong Provincial Demographic Academy (广东省人口学会).

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to the rapidly increasing education needs of permanent residents in Beijing without local Hukou. This kind of situation does not only exist in Beijing. The number of public primary schools in Guangzhou also decreased from 1,640 in 2001 to 961 in 2011, a decrease of 679. The same is true even with Dongguan, which is not a megacity. Local governments are still using registered popula­ tion as the basis for allocation of public education resources and formulation of public school development plans. They seldom use permanent residents, which include migrant population, as the basis. This leads to a result of both decreased education supply and increased education needs, causing children of migrants to be unable to have equal access to public education resources. Therefore, Mr. Huang Wenzheng and Mr. Liang Jianzhang, experts on popu­ lation problem, have pointed out in their articles that it is not the large num­ ber of children, but the poor planning and “lack of foresight” of the education authorities that have resulted in the severe shortage of vacancies in schools in Beijing and their inability to provide the newly added children with the most basic compulsory education. Financial burden is also a critical reason for local governments to exclude school-age children without local Hukou. In the current mechanism for the sharing of compulsory education funds, local governments tend to undertake a heavier burden to pay a large proportion whereas the Central Government pays a small proportion. Through an analysis of the statistics on the propor­ tion of government spending on investment to the total amount of investment in education between 2004 and 2012, the author finds that the proportion of education spending to the total amount of government spending nationwide fluctuated between 15% and 16.8%,9 whereas the biggest proportion of Central Government spending on education to Central Government financial expen­ diture was only 5.9%, which was in the year 2012. In other words, compared to the national average, the Central Government took as much as 10% less responsibility in spending on education. Under the policy of “two dependents,” the responsibility of providing the education for children of peasant migrants has been shuffled off onto city governments, causing many local governments to be overwhelmed. The “two dependents” thought has been continued in the new round of household registration system reform. Henan is one of the provinces that started early to introduce detailed supporting rules and regulations after the Opinions on household registration system reform was issued by the State Council. It is stipulated in the Implementation Opinions of Henan Province on Deepening Household Registration System Reform 《河南省关于深化户籍制度改革的实 ( 9  Data published by National Bureau of Statistics.

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) that measures should be taken to ensure that the children of peas­ 施意见》 ant migrants and other permanent residents enjoy the right to receive educa­ tion; and compulsory education for children of peasant migrants should be included in the local public education system and scope of financial guarantee in accordance with the principle of “depending mainly on local governments and local public schools.” Professor Zheng Xinye from School of Economics, China Renmin University (中国人民大学经济学院) believes that under the current mechanism, local governments not only are unmotivated to provide children of peasant migrants with access to education, but also will not be punished because of the inap­ propriate solution. It is a matter of course that they will not regard providing children of peasant migrants with access to education as a priority. In fact, even local governments undertake all the cost for children of peas­ ant migrants to receive education, it is still worthwhile for local governments. The reason is that the income generated from social insurance premiums paid by immigrants is far more than the amount of money needed for providing their children with education. In 2012, Shanghai spent a total amount of 24.920 billion yuan on compulsory education. Assume that students without local Hukou take up 45% of all the students in Beijing, the amount of money spent on compulsory education for students without local Hukou was 11.214 bil­ lion yuan. Besides, Shanghai also increased subsidies for schools for children of residents without local Hukou. To be specific, it gives every student 5000 yuan (excluding rent) of basic cost allowance. However, nowadays permanent residents without local Hukou contribute around 20-billion-yuan endowment insurance to Shanghai. The increased income from social insurance can cover the spending on education. 3

Prospects on Reforming the Education Policies for Migrant Children

Strengthen the Financial Responsibilities of the Central Government and Provincial Governments In general, the more frequent a country’s population flow, its central gov­ ernment is more likely to shoulder the major responsibility in spending on education. In most European countries, the central government generally con­ tributes more than 50% of the investment in education. With regard to the heavy burden and lack of incentives of local govern­ ments under the current fiscal and taxation systems, Mr. Zhu Yongxin, vice central chairman of China Association for Promoting Democracy (民进中央副 3.1

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主席) believes that a transfer payment system where the central finance allo­

cates money to the compulsory education of children of permanent residents without local Hukou. He suggests that the state should set up a special fund to allocate to provinces and areas with a high density of permanent residents without local Hukou to help make up for the shortage of funds. As a matter of fact, it is not that currently the Central Government has taken no responsibility at all. From 2008 to 2012, the Central Government allocated 15.85 billion yuan10 incentive subsidies to children of peasant migrants in cities. Since 2014, the Central Government has taken into consider­ ation the base quota of school public funds at the compulsory education stage in rural areas and the proportions undertaken by the Central Government and local governments while distributing the incentive funds to children of peas­ ant migrants in cities for them to receive compulsory education. Nevertheless, compared to the large number of children of migrant workers, this amount of transfer payment is still small. Therefore, Mr. Zheng Xinye believes that the urgent priority is to increase this amount of subsidy, for which the Central Government must take its due responsibility. According to Mr. Zheng Xinye’s conception, “deduction of equal amount” can be implemented for education expense. In other words, an equal amount of education investment in the hometowns of the migrants should be deducted to compensate for the education investment in the cities where migrants move to live in. “movement of money with people” will help reduce the finan­ cial burden of the governments of cities where migrants move to live in and reduce the unwillingness of cities to provide migrants with services. In recent years, the equalized transfer payment has in essence taken into consideration the change of farmers into urban residents. But seen from the reality, the weight of permanent residents is still too low in the transfer pay­ ment accounting. Take Guangdong that has the largest migrant population for example. In 2011, the Central Government spending on compulsory education amounted to 126.51 billion yuan with each student getting 874 yuan on average, yet the amount of education subsidy allocated to compulsory education by Guangdong Provincial Government was only 2.625 billion yuan.11 Assume that there were 13 million students at the compulsory education stage, each student only got 201 yuan, less than 1/4 of the national average. Therefore, permanent residents should be given a bigger weight in the accounting of general transfer payment and education transfer payment.

10  News from the official website of the Ministry of Finance. 11  Data from the Department of Education of Guangdong Province.

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This view is also shared by the World Bank (世界银行), whose report points out that in order to facilitate the household registration system reform, it is necessary to give subsidies to cities that take in a large migrant population to enable them to provide public services. The subsidies should first of all come from the transfer payment by the Central Government, which will help incen­ tivize local governments. Strengthen the Legal Guarantee for the Education Rights of Migrant Children On the legal front, it is pointed in Article XII of the Compulsory Education Law amended in 2006 that “for school-age children or youth whose parents or other legal guardians work or live in places other than where their Hukou is receive education in the places where their parents or other legal guardians work or live, local people’s governments should provide them with conditions to receive equal compulsory education.” Some scholars believe that the Article reaffirmed that the education for children of migrants is still strictly subject to household registration and suggest revising it as: “children should attend schools where they live in accordance with the rule of proximity.” 3.2

Strengthen the Building of Public Service System by Local Governments We believe that the root cause for the education chasm lies not in household registration system itself but in the practice of allocating education resources according to household registration under the planning system. Therefore, reforming the household registration system means to correct the malpractice of allocating resources according to household registration only and establish a system of providing public services according to permanent population. Currently, local governments only focus on the needs for compulsory educa­ tion of children of migrants, but have not paid enough attention to their needs for preschool education and senior high school education. However, children of migrants will have a bigger and bigger demand for preschool education and post-junior high school education, which need to be addressed through over­ all consideration. A public interest preschool education system needs to be established and “college entrance examination for non-registered residents” should be implemented to ensure that children of migrants can enjoy the right to receive post-junior high school education in cities. With the decrease of school-age population year by year and the continued increase of educa­ tion resources, local governments will start to have the conditions to carry out incremental reform on the basis of not affecting the former interests of resi­ dents with local Hukou. The time for reform has come. 3.3

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Chapter 12

An Investigation of the Current Development of School-Age Children in Poverty-Stricken Areas Qin Hongyu Abstract The investigation of current development of school-age children was carried out from four dimensions: students’ physical health, teachers’ evaluation of students’ mental health, students’ learning conditions in school, and distribution of school education resources. The investigation compared primary schools in provincial capitals with those in poverty-stricken counties (primary schools in township centers, village primary schools, and teaching places); it also further comprehensively compared primary schools in provincial capitals with those in poverty-stricken townships, villages, and teaching places. The investigation reveals that unhealthy habits and unreasonable nutrition matches are the two biggest concerns for the physical health of school-age children in poverty-stricken areas. The mental health problems for school-age children in primary schools in township centers are most serious. The school-age children in village primary schools and teaching places in poverty-stricken areas suffer from a lack of basic necessities. And the education resources available to these schools are far less than those to primary schools in township centers.

Keywords poverty-stricken areas – school-age children – education – health

According to the latest statistics in A Collection of Drawings on Child Development Indicators in China: 2014 《中国儿童发展指标图集（ ( 2014）》) published by United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) (联合国儿童基金会), China has completed its millennium development goals such as reducing half of its poor population, ensuring universal access to primary education, * Qin Hongyu 秦红宇, associate research fellow of the 21st Century Education Research Institute (21世纪教育研究院).

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2019 | doi:10.1163/9789004389021_013

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and lowering children mortality rate ahead of schedule. Despite its remarkable development achievements, China is still challenged by the huge gap and inequality between rural areas and urban areas, between Eastern regions, Central regions, and Western regions.1 Development of children-related undertakings in China is highly unbalanced, especially represented in the fact that the health and education of the 40 million children in contiguous areas with acute difficulties (集中连片特殊困难地区) are significantly below the national average level.2 It is the fundamental means to help poverty-stricken areas to rule out the “entrenched poverty” by providing health guarantee and education support for children in these areas. This is an important part of the basic public services provided by the government. And more and more social organizations are also paying attention to and supporting children development in poverty-stricken areas. Necessary measures for ensuring equal access to education include paying attention to and understanding the development status of children in poverty-­stricken townships and villages, as well as increasing the transparency of these “20%” disadvantaged groups living at the bottom of the society, so as to give effective interventions to their development to bridge the gap between them and their counterparts in developed regions. In 2014, the 21st Century Education Research Institute conducted a survey on the development status of school-age children in poverty-stricken acres.3 This paper aims to comprehensively compare and evaluate the development status of school-age children in poverty-stricken areas through comparisons between rural areas and urban areas (primary schools in provincial capitals and primary schools in povertystricken counties), comparisons between primary schools in township centers of poverty-stricken counties, village primary schools, and teaching places in five dimensions, namely, daily routines, learning situation in schools, physical health, evaluation of mental health, and availability of education conditions. 1  United Nations Children’s Fund, Lianheguo ertong jijihui fabu zhongguo ertong fazhan zhibiao tuji (2014) 联合国儿童基金会发布中国儿童发展指标图集（2014）[The United Nations Children’s Fund Published A Collection of Drawings on Child Development Indicators in China: 2014], January 12, 2015. Available on http://www.unicef.org/chinese/media/ media_78426.html. 2  “Guowuyuan bangongting yinfa guojia pinkun diqu ertong fazhan guihua (2014–2020 nian) 国 务院办公厅印发《国家贫困地区儿童发展规划（2014–2020年）》[The General Office of the State Council Printed and Distributed the National Development Plan for Children in Poverty-Stricken Areas: 2014–2020],” January 15, 2015. Available on the portal of the Central Government: http://www.gov.cn/xinwen/2015-01/15/content_2804607.htm. 3  The research was supported by China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation (中国扶贫基 金会).

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Qin

Descriptions of the Samples

The survey covers 20 provinces (Shanxi, Henan, Hunan, Hubei, Anhui, Jiangxi, Guizhou, Guangxi, Chongqing, Sichuan, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Shaanxi, Yunnan, Tibet, and Xinjiang) in Central China, Western China, and Northeast China. The samples consist of one to two primary schools from every provincial capital, one to two poverty-stricken counties from every province, and at least one primary school in township center, village primary school or teaching place in each poverty-stricken county. In total, 88 primary schools were investigated for the survey; questionnaire surveys and interviews were carried out among the principals and 560 teachers from these 88 primary schools; and school-age children between six and 14 were studied for the survey. 2

Survey Findings

Unhealthy Habits and Unreasonable Nutrition Matches Remain the Two Biggest Concerns for the Physical Health of School-Age Children in Poverty-Stricken Areas For children, the school-age period is a period of accelerated physique building and a critical period to acquire scientific knowledge. The statistics collected in this survey suggest that unhealthy habits and unreasonable nutrition matches remain the two biggest concerns for the physical health of school-age children in poverty-stricken areas. In terms of dietary hygiene, over half of the school-age children in povertystricken areas have got ill due to improper hand-washing habits as well as eating unclean food or drinking non-boiled water; over 20% of the children tend to have water intoxication. A large percentage of children (48.5%) have not formed the habit of washing their hands before meal and after toilet. The survey also reveals that some schools do not have such conditions as tap water for students to wash their hands, which is also an important reflection of schools’ hygiene concern. Statistics also show that there are significant differences between primary schools in provincial capitals and those in poverty-stricken areas in terms of sickness caused by eating unclean food and drinking non-boiled water. Core nutrients should be absorbed from meats. It is also necessary to add nutritious food such as children, fish, meat, and eggs in diet at proper time and with proper portion. However, the survey indicates that over 20% of the primary school students in poverty-stricken areas are only able to have meat once 2.1

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Current Development of School-Age Children TABLE 12.1 The percentage of zero occurrence of getting ill due to having unclean food or beverage or drinking non-boiled water (%)

Poverty-stricken counties Getting Ill Due to Having Unclean Food or Beverage Getting Ill Due to Drinking Non-boiled Water

Provincial capitals 45.8 30.9

52 58

a week, and around 10% of the students are not able to have meat for a long time. What is worse, the structure of students’ food is autonomous. For these children who are in the period of growth and development, it is an important reason for their slow physical growth and development compared to their counterparts in big cities. Teachers Comment that School-Age Children in Primary Schools in Township Centers Have the Most Serious Mental Health Problems The survey shows that students in rural primary schools in poverty-stricken counties are far less than those in urban primary schools, but the proportion of boarding students in rural schools in poverty-stricken counties is much higher than that of boarding students in urban primary schools. Over 60% of the rural primary schools have 50 to 300 boarding students, 56.3% of whom are leftbehind children. The mental health of these students especially deserves our attention. In order to more objectively analyze the mental health of school-age children in poverty-stricken areas, taking consideration of the teachers’ comments of children in their personality problems, emotional problems, behavioral problems, interpersonal relationships, and learning adaptability, a comparative study is made regarding the personality problems, emotional problems, behavioral problems, interpersonal relationships, and learning adaptability of students in primary schools in provincial capitals, primary schools in township centers, village primary schools, and teaching places. It can be seen from Figure 12.1 that on the whole, the common personality problems of children are overdependence, stubbornness and willfulness. The comparisons of students in three types of schools show that more students in central primary schools in rural areas tend to have multiple personality problems such as dependence, jealousy, self-inferiority, and self-isolation compared to students in the other two types of schools. The reason might be the higher percentage of left-behind children. A higher percentage of students in village 2.2

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FIGURE 12.1

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A comparison of students’ personality problems in three types of schools 依赖：Dependent 嫉妒：Jealous 自卑：Self-inferior 孤僻：Withdrawn 固执任性：Stubborn and Willful 省会城市小学：Primary Schools in Provincial Capitals 乡镇中心小学：Primary Schools in Rural and Township Centers 村小／教学点：Village Primary Schools/Teaching Places

primary schools and teaching places have problems such as self-isolation and self-inferiority than primary schools in township centers. It can be seen from Figure 12.2 that the biggest emotional problem for students is lack of confidence, second to which are “vexation and narrowmindedness.” The comparison between the three types of schools shows that lack of confidence is a far more prominent problem among students in village primary schools and teaching places than primary schools in rural and township centers as well as schools in cities. Nevertheless, the former group suffers from significantly lower pressure compared to the latter two groups. Through comparisons, it can be seen that the percentage of students who are absent-minded is the highest in village primary schools and teaching places, second to which are students in primary schools in provincial capitals, with the lowest being students in primary schools in rural and township centers. In spite of this, the percentage of students who have such misconducts as running away from home, skipping school, stealing, and telling lies is much higher among students in primary schools in rural and township centers than students in other two types of schools.

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FIGURE 12.2

A comparison of students’ emotional problems in three types of schools 易争执：Liable to Disputes 烦恼小心眼：Vexed and Narrow-minded 自暴自弃走极端：Desperate and Extreme 缺乏自信：Unconfident 精神压力大：Mentally Stressed 省会城市小学：Primary Schools in Provincial Capitals 乡镇中心小学：Primary Schools in Rural and Township Centers 村小／教学点：Village Primary Schools/Teaching Places

It can be seen from Figure 12.4 that “self-centeredness” is the most serious among students in village primary schools and teaching places, second to which are students in primary schools in rural and township centers, with the least students having this problem in primary schools in provincial capitals. Other problems such as “frequent criticism of others” and “inability to get along with others friendly” are particularly serious among primary school students in rural and township centers, much more serious than students in other two types of schools. In terms of learning adaptability, most teachers think that “quite a few students lack initiative in study.” Through comparisons, it can be seen that as many as 35% of the students in village primary schools and teaching places are tired of study, far higher than two other types of schools. The percentage of students who lack initiative in study is the highest among primary school students in rural and township centers. Thus, it is obvious that learning adaptability problem is prominent for rural students. In conclusion, it is obvious that mental health problems of school-age children in poverty-stricken areas (including primary schools in rural and township

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FIGURE 12.3

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A comparison of students’ behavioral problems in three types of schools 离家出走：Run Away from Home 逃学：Skip School 偷窃：Steal Things 破坏财务：Damage Property 作弊：Cheat 注意力不集中：Absent-minded 说谎：Lie 骂人：Call Names 打架：Fight 省会城市小学：Primary Schools in Provincial Capitals 乡镇中心小学：Primary Schools in Rural and Township Centers 村小／教学点：Village Primary Schools/Teaching Places

centers, village primary schools, and teaching places) are far more serious than school-age children in primary schools in provincial capitals. In particular, most of the school-age children in primary schools in rural and township centers have shown more mental health problems in most survey items. The School-Age Children in Village Primary Schools and Teaching Places in Poverty-Stricken Areas Suffer from a Lack of Basic Necessities This survey looked into the infrastructure and facilities in primary schools in provincial capitals and primary schools in poverty-stricken counties. Infrastructure and facilities closely related to students’ everyday life such as room and board, medical treatment, and safety were studied. Apart from a comparative analysis of primary schools in provincial capitals and primary 2.3

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FIGURE 12.4

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A comparison of students’ interpersonal relationships in three types of schools 自我中心：Self-centered 对别人指责多：Often Criticize Others 不能共同协作完成任务：Unable to Collaborate with Others to Complete Tasks 不能友好相处：Unable to Get Along with Others Friendly 不存在上述问题：Free from the Abovementioned Problems 省会城市小学：Primary Schools in Provincial Capitals 乡镇中心小学：Primary Schools in Rural and Township Centers 村小／教学点：Village Primary Schools/Teaching Places

schools in poverty-stricken counties, comparative analyses of the basic facilities in primary schools in township centers as well as village primary schools and teaching places were also made. Village primary schools and teaching places in poverty-stricken counties can only provide very few living facilities in room and board, medical treatment, hygiene, and safety for students, and the quality of these facilities is very low compared to the facilities in primary schools in capital cities. More than 80% of the central primary schools in poverty-stricken counties have canteens, yet half of these schools are in urgent need of cleaning and hygiene devices for canteens; more than 60% of the village schools and teaching places in poverty-stricken counties have canteens, and over 20% of these schools are also in urgent need of cleaning and hygiene devices; only half of

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FIGURE 12.5

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A comparison of students’ “learning adaptability” in three types of schools 大部分学生信心足：Most students are confident. 大部分学生厌学：Most students are tired of study. 相当一部分学习被动：Quite a few students lack initiative in study. 大部分自觉性高：Most students take initiative to study. 省会城市小学：Primary Schools in Provincial Capitals 乡镇中心小学：Primary Schools in Rural and Township Centers 村小／教学点：Village Primary Schools/Teaching Places

the primary schools in poverty-stricken counties have direct drinking water equipment, and 70% of the village schools and teaching places have no supply of boiled water; the toilet hygiene conditions of primary schools in povertystricken counties are in urgent need of improvement, and complaints about poor hygiene conditions in toilets are the also the most in village schools and teaching places. 2.3.1 Schools Suffer from a Severe Shortage of Medical Guarantee Primary schools in township centers in poverty-stricken counties and schools with poorer conditions suffer from a severe lack of dispensaries and fulltime school doctors, much worse than primary schools in provincial capitals. Statistics reflect that 3/4 of the primary schools in provincial capitals have dispensaries that provide students with medical and safety guarantee; primary schools in township centers in poverty-stricken counties that have set up dispensaries take up around half (46.9%) of the schools; the biggest concern is that over 95% of the village schools and teaching places in poverty-stricken counties do not have dispensaries. The situation in primary schools in provincial capitals is more optimistic. To be specific, over half of the doctors in these

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schools work full-time, and over 40% work half-time; as to primary schools in township centers in poverty-stricken counties, 40% of the schools’ doctors work part-time and only 8% are full-time doctors; with 0% full-time doctors and only 20% part-time doctors, the lack of doctors, especially full-time doctors, is still a big concern for village schools and teaching places in poverty-stricken counties. (See Figure 12.6 and Figure 12.7) 2.3.2 Sanitary Conditions Need to Be Improved Urgently Over 80% of the central primary schools in poverty-stricken counties have canteens, but half of them are in urgent need of hygiene and cleaning equipment for canteens; over 60% of the village primary schools and teaching places have canteens, but over 20% of them are also in urgent need of hygiene and cleaning equipment for canteens; the toilet conditions of the primary schools in poverty-stricken counties investigated in the survey are in urgent need of improvement, and complaints about poor hygiene conditions in toilets are also the most in village schools and teaching places. 2.3.3 Safety Hazards Need to Be Eliminated Urgently It can be seen from the feedbacks of the questionnaire survey that nearly 30% of the principals in village primary schools and teaching places in povertystricken counties report that there are dangerous buildings in their schools. These buildings will seriously threaten students’ personal safety during their study and stay in schools. This suggests that the dangerous buildings in village primary schools and teaching places in poverty-stricken counties need reconstruction badly; in comparison, over 90% of the primary schools in provincial capitals and primary schools in township centers in poverty-stricken counties do not have dangerous buildings. 2.3.4

Basic Accommodation and Meals for Low-Age Boarding Children Cannot Be Guaranteed More than 70% of the primary schools in provincial capitals have direct drinking water facilities, whereas just a little bit more than 50% of the primary schools in township centers in poverty-stricken counties as well as village primary schools and teaching places in poverty-stricken counties have direct drinking water facilities. Around 70% of the village primary schools and teaching places have no supply of boiled water, which will adversely affect the water-drinking safety and physical health of students; in comparison, around 80% of the primary schools in provincial capitals and primary schools in township centers in poverty-stricken counties are able to supply boiled water.

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FIGURE 12.6

A comparison of the availability of doctors in school hospitals 省会城市学校：Schools in Provincial Capitals 乡镇中心校： Schools in Rural and Township Centers 村小／教学点：Village Primary Schools/Teaching Places 没有：Without School Doctors 有： With School Doctors

FIGURE 12.7

A comparison of the employment status of school doctors 专职：Full-time 兼职：Part-time 没有：None 省会城市学校：Schools in Provincial Capitals 乡镇中心校：Schools in Rural and Township Centers 村小／教学点：Village Primary Schools/Teaching Places

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There are far more boarding students in primary schools in township centers in poverty-stricken counties and schools with poorer conditions than primary schools in provincial capitals. The environment of students’ dormitories is a big concern. According to statistics, such situation still exists where up to 40 students live in one dormitory and three students sleep on the same bed. This finding is also consistent with the conclusions drawn from similar surveys conducted in recent years. TABLE 12.2 Proportions of low-age boarding students in townships centers, village primary schools, and teaching places in poverty-stricken counties

Type of school

Percentage of schools with low-age boarding students

Primary Schools in Township Centers Village Primary Schools/Teaching Places

86.67% 33.33%

According to the statistics collected from the survey, over 80% (86.67%) of the primary schools in township centers have low-age boarding students, whereas 1/3 of the village primary schools and teaching places have low-age boarding students.4 Primary schools in township centers have over 80% low-age boarders, but only around 40% (43.50%) of the primary schools in township centers have bathrooms, and less than 60% (57.14%) of these schools with bathrooms are able to supply students with hot water. What concerns people most is that none of the village primary schools and teaching places have bathrooms, which makes it difficult to ensure the physical health and hygiene of boarders. The School-Age Children in Village Primary Schools and Teaching Places in Poverty-Stricken Areas Have Far Less Education Resources than Their Counterparts in Primary Schools in Township Centers The survey also further studies the balanced allocation of education resources among various types of schools from the teaching facilities and soft 2.4

4  In the present survey, boarders between Grade One and Grade Three in rural boarding schools are called “low-age boarders.” According to statistics, nearly 77.78% of the schools out of the boarding primary schools in poverty-stricken counties have low-age boarders (between Grade One and Grade Three), 46.7% of the schools have boarders in all the three grades from Grade One to Grade Three, 33.3% of the schools have boarders in Grade Two and Grade Three, and 20% of the schools only have boarders in Grade Three.

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teaching resources (teachers, courses, and teaching resources) schools provide for students. 2.4.1 Comparison of Teaching Facilities The classroom conditions (daylighting, lighting, anti-seismic ability, fire control, desk and chair update) of village primary schools and teaching places in poverty-stricken counties are not as good as those in primary schools in township centers; the classroom study conditions of village primary schools and teaching places in poverty-stricken counties are a long way from catching up with those of primary schools in provincial capitals; the availability of “library, computer room, multimedia classroom, arts classroom, music classroom, science laboratory, and establishment of campus network” in village primary schools and teaching places is not as good as that in primary schools in township centers, and far worse than that in primary schools in provincial capitals. (See Figure 12.8 and Figure 12.9).

FIGURE 12.8

A comparison of classroom conditions in three types of schools 学生课桌椅及时更新：Timely Update of Student Desks and Chairs 抗震：Anti-seismic 消防安全：Fire Control Safety 室内照明条件充分：Sufficient Indoor Lighting 黑板材料齐全：Adequate Blackboard Materials 自然采光效果好：Good Daylight 省会城市学校：Schools in Provincial Capitals 乡镇中心校：Schools in Rural and Township Centers 村小／教学点：Village Primary Schools/Teaching Places

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FIGURE 12.9

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A comparison of supporting subjects classroom conditions in three types of schools 建立校园网：Establish Campus Network 美术教室：Arts Classroom 科学实验室：Science Laboratory 音乐教室：Music Classroom 多媒体教室：Multimedia Classroom 计算机室／房：Computer Classroom/Room 图书馆／图书室：Library

2.4.2 Comparison of Teachers The quality of soft education and teaching resources directly affects the education quality of students. Such factors as “teachers,” “course resources,” “classroom teaching,” and “implementation of quality education” are closely related to the quality of education. The present survey involves aspects relevant to students’ study such as teachers, courses, and teaching resources. 2.4.2.1

There Are Still Quite a Lot of Structural Vacancies for GovernmentBudgeted Teaching Posts in Primary Schools in Rural Areas of Poverty-Stricken Areas Seen from the availability of teachers with a professional background, there are still quite a lot of structural vacancies for government-budgeted teaching posts in primary schools in rural areas of poverty-stricken areas: on the whole, compared to provincial capitals, rural primary schools suffer from a severe shortage of teachers of such subjects as Music, PE, Arts, and Information Technology are in the greatest demand, and the shortage is particularly serious in village primary schools and teaching places. The number of full-time teachers of such subjects as Music, PE, Arts, and Science in rural primary schools

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in poverty-stricken areas is smaller than that in primary schools in provincial capitals. Besides, teachers (either full-time or part-time) of such subjects as Music, PE, Arts, and Science in the former type of primary schools have much less opportunities to receive subject-related professional training than primary school teachers in provincial capitals. This, to a large extent, restricts the teaching quality improvement of rural compulsory education in povertystricken counties and also stands in the way of the improvement of quality education. As to the number of full-time teachers of Information Technology, the difference between primary schools in provincial capitals and those in poverty-stricken counties is huge. To be specific, 84.38% of the Information Technology teachers in primary schools in provincial capitals work full-time, which is twice as many as the full-time Information Technology teachers in primary schools in poverty-stricken counties. 2.4.2.2

The Professional Ability of Primary School Teachers in Rural Areas of Poverty-Stricken Counties Is Far Lower than That of Primary School Teachers in Provincial Capitals. The most prominent problems in the teaching of rural primary school teachers in poverty-stricken counties include “obsolete education and teaching concepts, inability to meet the requirements of the new curriculum” as well as “lack of guidance by experts and blind exploration of the ways to improve teaching quality.” More than half of the teachers admit having these problems in their own teaching practices. More primary school teachers (58.75%) in provincial capitals admit having the problem of “lack of guidance by experts and blind exploration of the ways to improve teaching quality” than rural primary school teachers in poverty-stricken counties (51.2%). But apart from this, the percentages of rural primary school teachers in povertystricken counties that are confronted with other challenges (“lack of proper means and ability to communicate with students,” “narrow scope of knowledge and flawed knowledge structure,” “lack of mental health knowledge and skills,” etc.) are all higher than those of primary school teachers in provincial capitals. 2.4.2.3 Comparison of the Implementation of Quality Development Subjects In schools, quality development courses aimed at promoting students’ allround development of morality, intelligence, physique, aesthetic appreciation, and labor education such as Music, PE, Arts, Science, Morality and Society, and Comprehensive Practice will directly affect the quality of education students receive as well as their physical and mental health. Through questionnaire surveys among principals, the present investigation achieves

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an overall understanding of the implementation of quality education courses in both primary schools in provincial capitals and primary schools in poverty-­ stricken counties (primary schools in township centers, village primary schools, and teaching places) in such aspects as “the availability of quality development courses” and “the factors affecting the implementation results of quality development courses.” It can be seen from Table 12.3 that on the whole, the availability rate of quality development courses in primary schools in provincial capitals is higher than that in primary schools in township centers. Besides, the availability rate of such courses in village primary schools and teaching places is very low. To be specific, 1/3 of the village primary schools and teaching places have failed to provide Music, PE, and Arts courses, as well as Comprehensive Practice course and local courses. Besides, Science and Information Technology are only taught in half of these schools. As to the major factors that affect the effects of quality development courses, over 90% of rural principals complain about “the lack of professional teachers”; over 70% of the principals complain about the “lack of teaching facilities and equipment,” over half of the principals of village primary schools and teaching places admit that “quality development courses are replaced by main courses for the sake of coping with examinations for further study”; the percentage of principals of village primary schools and teaching places who table 12.3 Details of quality development courses

Course name

Primary schools in provincial capitals

Primary schools in township centers

Village primary schools/teaching places

Music PE Arts Science Information Technology Moral Character Mental Health Safety Education Physiological Hygiene Comprehensive Practice Local Subjects

96.4% 100.0% 96.4% 92.9% 78.6% 85.7% 53.6% 32.1% 96.4% 78.6% 78.6%

96.9% 96.9% 90.6% 87.5% 40.6% 43.8% 50.0% 6.3% 90.6% 59.4% 62.5%

66.7% 62.5% 62.5% 54.2% 45.8% 79.2% 16.7% 12.5% 62.5% 33.3% 37.5%

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FIGURE 12.10 A comparison of the factors affecting the implementation effects of quality development subjects in three types of schools 学生缺乏兴趣：Students Lack Interest 被主课占用：Occupied by Main Subjects 激励考评机制不健全：The Incentive and Examination Mechanisms Are Yet to Be Established. 家长不重视：Inadequate Attention from Parents 教师设施不齐全：Incomplete Teacher Facilities 缺乏专业教师：Short of Professional Teachers

report that “students lack interest and motivation in study” (25%) is higher than the percentage of principals of primary schools in provincial capitals (10.7%) and the percentage of principals of primary schools in township centers (15.6%). (See Figure 12.10). The teaching appliances and equipment available for rural primary school teachers in poverty-stricken areas to use are very limited, which is inconvenient for teachers to carry out their lessons and also difficult for them to mobilize the interest of students. The gap between rural primary schools in poverty-stricken areas and primary schools in provincial capitals is particularly wide in terms of the investment in purchasing these appliances and equipment. Over half of the rural primary schools in povertystricken areas invest less than 100 yuan each semester or between 100 yuan and 200 yuan, whereas nearly 20% of primary schools in provincial capitals invest over 5,000 yuan or over 10,000 yuan. It can thus be seen that rural school-age children in poverty-stricken areas have access to much less teaching resources in quality development courses such as Music, PE, Arts, Science, and Information Technology in comparison with school-age children in provincial capitals.

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Discussions and Suggestions

It Is an Urgent Priority to Improve the School Living Conditions of Low-Age Boarding Children in Poverty-Stricken Areas to Ensure Their Survival and Development The limited resources and services the large number of primary schools in township centers in poverty-stricken counties and primary schools with poorer conditions can provide their low-age boarders with in terms of canteen hygiene, drinking water supply, school doctor care, and toilet conditions, can barely ensure them to grow healthily and safely. Among these boarders who study in primary schools in township centers and primary schools with poorer conditions, there are a certain percentage of left-behind children, who can barely get the company and care from their parents. The dual structure characterized by co-existence of rural areas and urban areas will remain unchanged in the long term, and huge differences exist between rural areas and urban areas in terms of the development of compulsory education. The investment in talent education and resources by rural areas is insufficient. A lot of young people from rural areas go to cities to seek jobs out of the need for survival and development, causing their children to become the by-products of the urbanrural dual system and “low-age boarders.” Measures should be taken to improve their basic living conditions at school with a focus on their health and safety. 3.1

A Comprehensive Guarantee System for the Mental Health of SchoolAge Children in Poverty-Stricken Areas Is in Urgent Need This investigation shows that the mental health of school-age children in poverty-­stricken areas is not optimistic at all. They have shown more psychological problems than school-age children in big cities in such aspects as personality, emotions, behaviors, interpersonal relationships, and learning adaptability. In particular, the occurrence rate of serious behavior problems among the former group such as running away from home, skipping school, stealing, damaging property, and cheating is double or even several times of the occurrence rate among the latter group. The mental health of school-age children in primary schools in township centers is particularly poor. Reasons include the monotony and isolation of boarding life, lack of care by parents of the left-behind children, and no alternative for low-age students except becoming boarders. These reasons may easily cause school-age children in poverty-stricken areas (especially primary schools in township centers) to develop a series of mental health problems. The state needs to establish and perfect the child mental health education system in poverty-stricken areas, 3.2

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and prioritize psychosocial counseling for left-behind children. Efforts should be made to strengthen the mental health education capacity building of teachers in charge and professional teachers to enable each and every school to have full-time or part-time mental health education teachers. Besides, social organizations and communities should be encouraged to provide professional support to schools’ mental health counselling and form a regular mechanism for this kind of support and cooperation. Facilitate the Implementation of the Fund Guarantee Mechanism in Favor of Small-scale Village Primary Schools At the end of 2013, the Ministry of Education issued the Notice of the Ministry of Education on Further Improving the Funds Guarantee for Village Primary schools and Teaching Places 《教育部关于进一步做好村小学和教学点经费 ( 保障工作的通知》), demanding various places to strengthen provincial-level overall arrangement and strive to improve the conditions of village primary schools and teaching places in accordance with the requirements of rural compulsory education funds guarantee mechanism. A higher percentage of the long-effect mechanism fund for schoolhouse maintenance and transformation should be gradually used for regular maintenance of schoolhouses, with village primary schools and teaching points as the priority. Seen from the statistics of this investigation, since the implementation of the new policies, village primary schools and teaching places in poverty-stricken counties still suffer from a lack of basic facilities in such aspects as room and board, medical treatment, as well as hygiene and health, and the funds guarantee mechanism in preference for village primary schools of smaller scales has not been fully formed or worked. The main reason is the low investment in improving school facilities and equipment. In the past, county governments were responsible for making overall arrangement of the compulsory education funds. However, the county-level finance of poverty-stricken areas is very weak. In the course of the adjustment of the distribution of rural compulsory education schools, primary schools in township centers have formed quite a big scale. Nevertheless, the village primary schools and teaching places that are located in remote areas, very inconvenient to reach by traffic, and difficult to receive education resources because of the inconvenience, once again, can barely enjoy the benefits brought by the “Weak Link Improvement Plan” because they have not formed a large scale. Besides, although per-student public fund in western rural areas has increased significantly compared to the past, the per-student public fund in poverty-stricken rural areas is still the lowest compared to other places. 3.3

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Only by Improving the Balanced Distribution of Teachers Can Equal Access to High-Quality Education Resources for School-Age Children in Poverty-Stricken Areas Be Truly Realized

The lack of quality development course resources and the actual implementation dilemmas still make it hard to meet the needs of school-age children in village primary schools and teaching places in poverty-stricken counties for high-quality education. Seen from the investigation results, village primary schools and teaching places in poverty-stricken counties are the underprivileged groups among disadvantaged schools in such aspects as quality of teachers and course teaching resources (including quality development courses). As a result, the education quality for their students is much worse than that for primary school students in provincial capitals. Seen from the fairness of the education course and the connotation of education quality, only by improving the balanced allocation of soft education resources can we truly enable schoolage children in poverty-stricken areas to have equal access to high-quality education resources.

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Chapter 13

Report on Teachers’ Conditions in Rural Small-scale Schools (农村小规模学校) Zhang Xu* Abstract As the most vulnerable part in the school system, rural small-scale schools’ construction and development is crucial to the realization of education equality and the promotion of social justice. Among others, construction of teaching staff (师资队伍 建设) is the key to promote the development of rural small-scale schools. The key to rebuild the confidence of rural small-scale schools and reform their educational ecology (教育生态) lies in holding a solid understanding of the obstacles facing construction of teaching staff as well as reconstructing teaching staff in rural smallscale schools according to local conditions and capabilities.

Keywords rural small-scale schools – teaching staff – obstacles

According to Opinions on Regulating the Layout Adjustment of Rural Compulsory Education Schools 《关于规范农村义务教育学校布局调整的意 ( 见》 ) (hereinafter referred to as Opinions) issued by the State Council in 2012, the “school closure and merger” (“撤点并校”) policy being implemented for 10 years was called off. Such practice marks China’s official entrance to the “post school closure and merger era” (“后撤点并校时代”). In the “post school closure and merger era,” rural schools continue their existence as rural small-scale schools with village primary schools and teaching venues (教学点) playing the dominant role. In order to define rural small-scale school clearly, this paper attempts to define the rural schools whose student amount of each grade is no more than 40 as rural small-scale schools; in other words, rural schools with no more than 240 students are defined as rural small-scale schools. According * Zhang Xu 张旭, Associate Researcher of 21st Century Education Research Institute.

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2019 | doi:10.1163/9789004389021_014

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to the official statistics in 2012, there were over 160,000 rural primary schools (including teaching venues) with less than 240 students in China, taking up about 70% of the total amount of 228,585 primary schools nationwide at that time; the number of rural primary schools (including teaching venues) with less than 120 students was over 110,000, accounting for about 48% of the total number of 228,585 primary schools in China.1 As both the key and the difficulty aspect in China’s education, and the most vulnerable part in the school system, rural small-scale schools’ construction and development is crucial to the realization of education equality and the promotion of social justice. Teaching staff with both quality and quantity guaranteed is not only key but also fundamental to promote the development of rural small-scale schools. The construction of teaching staff is of paramount importance in rural small-scale schools’ development. In 2013, the intensive release of Notice on Providing Subsistence Allowance (生活补助) for Rural Teachers in Contiguous Destitute Areas (连片特困地区) according to the Requirements of No 1 Central Document in 2013 《关于落实 ( 2013年中央1号文件要求对在连 片特困地区工作的乡村教师给予生活补助的通知》 ), Notice of the Ministry of Education on Further Guaranteeing the Funds for Village Primary Schools and Teaching Venues 《教育部关于进一步做好村小学和教学点经费保障工作的 ( 通知》 ), and Notice on Strengthening the Management of Subsistence Allowance for Rural Teachers 《关于加强乡村教师生活补助经费管理有关工作的通知》 ( ) has provided powerful supports to construction of teaching staff in rural smallscale schools. In this circumstance, 21st Century Education Research Institute researched on the living conditions of rural small-scale school teachers on June 2014. The questionnaire was carried out among 46 counties of 20 provinces including Zhejiang, Shanxi, and Guizhou in the eastern, middle, and western part of China. Totally 1,200 questionnaires were distributed to teachers and 1,032 were received and taken effective with the recovery rate of 86.00%.

1  Li Xiujun 季秀君, “Nongcun shengyuan jianshao, shisheng bili shitiao, bufen nongcun xuexiao jiaoshi zongliang fuyu dan zhuanye shizi quefa—qiujie nongcun jiaoshi jiegouxing quebian nanti 农村生源减少，师生比例失调，部分农村学校教师总量富余 但专业师资缺乏——求解农村教师结构性缺编难题 [Reduce of Rural Students, Imbalanced Teacher-Student Ratio, and Surplus Teachers in Some Rural Schools with the Lack of Professional Teaching Staff—Study on Structural Vacancies (结构性缺编) of Rural Teachers],” November 19, 2014. The First Edition.

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The Basic Features of Teaching Staff in Rural Small-scale Schools

The basic features of teaching staff in rural small-scale schools are shown in the research on their current situations as follows: the majority of rural small-scale school teachers are young and middle-aged teachers, the main body of rural small-scale school teachers are local teachers, the educational structure of teachers in rural small-scale school teachers have been basically optimized, and the aim of teachers’ “officially budgeted posts” in rural smallscale schools have been basically achieved. The Majority of Rural Small-scale School Teachers Are Young and Middle-aged Teachers According to the basic information of 1032 teachers investigated in rural smallscale schools (Table 13.1), the proportion of male and female teachers are 49.3% and 50.7% respectively which indicates the gender balance of rural small-scale school teachers. However, there is a severe interschool ratio imbalance in gender; for example, all of the 5 teachers in a primary school in a county in Huanggang City, Hubei Province are female while all of the 7 teachers in a primary school in a county in Huaihua City, Hunan Province are male. From the perspective of age structure, the proportion of 20–29, 30–39, 40–49, 50–59 age group are 23.2%, 41.1%, 24.0%, and 11.7% respectively. This number is related to the increase of young and dynamic teachers input into rural schools because of China’s implementation of policies including “Special-post Teacher Program” (“特岗教师计划”) in 2006. From the perspective of working year, the proportion of teachers with 1–10, 11–20, 21–30, and 31–40 years’ teaching experience are 41.4%, 32.3%, 19.7%, and 6.6% respectively. The statistics has proved that the measures of government in rural teaching staff have achieved good results from another perspective. 1.1

The Main Body of Rural Small-scale School Teachers Are Local Teachers As shown in the statistics, the majority of rural small-scale school teacher are local teachers. Of the total proportion, teachers with the local village as their domicile take up 13.2%, while the teachers whose domicile is in other villages in the same town and in other towns in the same county are 34.9% and 44.0% respectively. The number of teachers with the local county domicile accounts for 92.1% of the total respondents. As the main body of rural small-scale schools, local teachers play a positive role in the development of rural smallscale schools. The reasons are twofold: local teachers can make use of their natural advantages to integrate into the local community culture, and they are 1.2

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Teachers ’ Conditions in Rural Small-Scale Schools TABLE 13.1 Basic information of rural small-scale school teachers

Gender

Percentage

Single

Percentage

Male Female

49.3 50.7

Yes No

16.3 82.9

Age

Percentage

Job Transfer

Percentage

20–29 30–39 40–49 50–59

23.2 41.1 24.0 11.7

No Yes

44.4 55.6

Years of working

Percentage

Number of students

Percentage

1–10 Years 11–20 Years 21–30 Years 31–40 Years Average

41.4 32.3 19.7 6.6 14.4 Years

1–50 People 51–100 People 101–150 People 151–200 People Average

61.6 25.7 8.8 3.6 54 People

willing to choose the rural small-scale schools due to the influence of “being attached to one’s native land and unwilling to leave it” (“安土重迁”), a unique value in Chinese traditional culture. The Educational Structure of Rural Small-scale School Teachers Has Been Basically Optimized The educational structure optimization of rural small-scale school teachers benefits from the “Special-post Teacher Program for Rural Compulsory Education” (“ 农 村 义 务 教 育 阶 段 学 校 教 师 特 设 岗 位 计 划 ”) (hereinafter referred as “Special-post Teacher Program”) implemented by the Ministry of Education and other departments, “Free Normal Education Program” (“免费 师范生计划”) promoted and implemented by the State Council, and the rural teachers with associate degree or bachelor degree cultivated by local normal colleges and universities supported by local government. According to the survey, of the total 1,032 teachers in rural small-scale schools, teachers with bachelor degree and associate degree take up 36.5% and 33.1% respectively, whereas teachers with high school or technical secondary school diploma account for 1.3

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28.2% and those with education background of junior high school or below is only 2.2%. The statistics are in sharp contrast with the previous situation where the majority of rural small-scale school teachers were technical secondary school graduates. The Aim of Teachers’ “Officially Budgeted Posts” in Rural Small-scale Schools Have Been Basically Achieved The fact that 86.9% of the total 1,032 teachers in rural small-scale schools are in the officially budgeted posts indicated the basic achievement of the aim of teachers’ “officially budgeted posts” and is concerned with the policy of “transfer from not-state school teachers to public-run school teachers” (“民转公”). There were 4.91 million non-state school teachers (民办教师) in China in 1977. In the end of the 20th century, the government has taken measures to solve the non-state school teacher problem in accordance with the “closure, transfer, enrollment, and dismissal” (“关、招、转、辞、退”) policy. By 2000, the coexistence of non-state school teachers and state-run school teachers (公办教师) came to the end. Moreover, rural teachers with associate degree or bachelor degree recruited in the first decade of the 21st century have received the remuneration of “officially budgeted posts.” 1.4

2

Obstacles of Teaching Staff Construction (师资建设) in Rural Small-scale Schools

After years of efforts of the central and local government, some progress of the development of rural small-scale school teachers have been made. However, some pressing problems remain unsolved which are mainly shown in the following five aspects. 2.1 The Heavy Workload of Rural Small-scale School Teachers From the perspective of teaching situation (Table 13.2), rural small-scale school teachers are overloaded with work. Although 62.7% of the teachers teach no more than one grade, other teachers teach more. In terms of subjects, 48.3% of the teachers teach no more than two subjects, while 32% teach 3–4 subjects, and 28.9% of the teachers undertake the tasks of teaching more than 4 subjects. Researches on the time arrangement of class preparation, class, homework correction, after-school class, school affairs, students’ life, and family life suggest that the average daily working time of rural small-scale school teachers has reached 12 hours (Table 13.3).

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Teachers ’ Conditions in Rural Small-Scale Schools TABLE 13.2 Teaching situation of rural small-scale school teachers

Number of grade taught

Percentage

Number of subjects taught

Percentage

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

62.7 23.0 10.7 2.0 0.8 0.6 0.2

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

4.6 23.8 19.9 22.8 9.2 6.7 5.7 4.5 2.0 0.8

table 13.3 Daily time arrangement of rural small-scale school teachers Unit: %

Class Classes Homework After- Students’ Self- School Family life study affairs life preparation review school classes 0–2 Hours (included) 2–4 Hours (included) 4–6 Hours (included) 6–8 Hours (included) 8–10 Hours (included) Average (Hours) Mode (Hours)

78.8

19.6

93.1

98.1

95.2

97.9

97.7

66.5

19.1

58.6

6.6

1.7

2.6

1.9

1.8

32.5

1.8

15.7

0.3

0.2

0.0

0.2

0.2

1.0

0.3

5.5

0.0

0.0

1.5

0.0

0.3

0.0

0.0

0.6

0.0

0.0

0.7

0.0

0.0

0.0

2.0

3.7

1.4

1.2

1.4

1.2

1.1

2.0

2.0

4.0

1.0

1.0

1.0

1.0

1.0

2.0

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2.2 The Inadequate Remuneration of Rural Small-scale School Teachers The adjustments to teachers’ salary have been made by government in these years. Meanwhile, it’s regulated that the average salary of teachers should be no lower than that of public servants. However, many rural small-scale school teachers surveyed stated that they earned less than the local public servants. According to the statistics, the average real salary of rural small-scale school teachers is about 2,500 Yuan while they regard 4,500 Yuan as the more suitable monthly salary for development (Table 13.4). Among all rural small-scale school teachers, 21.7% of them were not covered by social security, 39.1% of them enjoy three insurance and one fund (三险一金), and 39.2% of them enjoy five insurance and one fund (五险一金). As for regular physical examinations organized by school, 85.4% of rural small-scale school teachers affirmed that they hadn’t had any physical examinations before. TABLE 13.4 Real salary and ideal salary of rural small-scale school teachers Unit: %

Salary (Yuan)

Real salary

Ideal salary

800–1500 1501–2200 2201–2900 2901–3600 3601–4300 4301–5000 5001–5700 5701–6400 6401 and more

5.2 27.9 40.1 25.0 1.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

0.0 0.3 6.3 24.0 10.3 39.0 1.1 12.1 6.9

Notice on Strengthening the Management of Subsistence Allowance for Rural Teachers issued in 2013 has played a positive role in enhancing the occupational attraction of rural teachers, optimizing the structure of educational investment, and narrowing the gap between urban and rural areas. However, the subsistence allowance for rural small-scale school teachers is still relatively low (Table 13.5). As illustrated by the example of Gansu Province, the subsistence allowance offered by government is 160 Yuan. With the development of economy and the improvement of living standard, this allowance is utterly inadequate in dealing with the overall low salary problem of rural teachers. Researches in L County in Gansu Province indicate that, 80% of the

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Teachers ’ Conditions in Rural Small-Scale Schools

educational funds are invested in the county schools whereas rural schools, taking up 95% of the schools in L County, share only 20% of the total funds. This distribution is the cause of serious insufficiency in rural teachers’ professional development including advanced study and training. table 13.5 Subsistence allowance received by rural small-scale school teachers

Subsistence allowance range (Yuan)

Percentage

0–100 101–200 201–300 301–400 401–500 501–600

18 8.9 63.3 7.1 1.2 1.2

New problems have arisen due to the rural teachers’ salary enhancement policies formulated by educational authorities. For instance, on the basis of the national “Special-post Teacher Program,” Hubei Provincial Department of Education increased the annual salary of special-post teachers to 30–35 thousand Yuan, which was about 10,000 Yuan higher than the salary of rural teachers with over 20 years’ teaching experience. The discontent of rural aged teachers was aroused due to the salary contradiction. Meanwhile, there is the phenomenon of equal pay for different work between urban and rural teachers. Take some county in Jilin Province as an example, the allowance for class advisor is about 160 Yuan. However, unlike rural schools which are mainly boarding schools, most county schools don’t have morning or evening classes, thus this allowance doesn’t reflect the payment of morning and evening classes. The Unpleasant Living Environment of Rural Small-scale School Teachers Of the total 1,032 rural small-scale school teachers, non-resident teachers take up 48.6%. According to the statistics of transportation and one-way time (Table 13.6), non-resident teachers mainly commute by foot or motorcycle with the respective proportion of 24.9% and 21.4%. Among the resident teachers accounting for 51.4% of the total, 79.9% live in the temporary residences offered by school. However, from the perspective of accommodation, there is a lack of domestic installations for rural small-scale 2.3

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table 13.6 Transportation and one-way time of rural small-scale school teachers

Transportation

Percentage

One-way time

Percentage

Walking Bicycle Electric Bicycle Motorcycle Bus Other

24.9 14.1 17.7 21.4 15.2 6.7

0–10 Minutes 11–20 Minutes 21–30 Minutes 31–40 Minutes 41 Minutes and More Average

33.2 35.7 21.7 3.9 9.5 20

交通方式：Transportation 步行：Walking 自行车：Bicycle 电动车：Electric Bicycle 摩托车：Motorcycle 公交车：Bus 其他：Other 百分比：Percentage 单程用时：One-way Time 分钟：Minutes 均值：Average

school teachers. The proportion of temporary residences equipped with washrooms, bathrooms, heating installations, and running water are 32.0%, 5.1%, 41.4%, and 39.2% respectively. 20.1% of the resident teachers aren’t provided with temporary residences. They need to spend 3,471 Yuan on rental per year on average which makes their uptight life worse. 2.4 The Unreasonable Flow of Rural Small-scale School Teachers It has become increasingly serious that young teachers in rural small-scale schools are flowing unreasonably. It is a commonplace that young teachers, who are reluctant to stay at the bottom rung, make themselves transferred into towns or cities through nepotism, and those who failed to do so would resort to secondment. As a result, there are a great number of teachers who are on the payroll but not on duty. Teachers who are older, however, have no access to flow. Some teacher working in a rural small-scale school in a county of Huaihua, Hunan province, stated that, “I have been working for this school for several decades, from when it was a complete primary school to a teaching venue with only a couple of staff now. I’ve never got out of here.” The unfair movement in question is highly likely to deteriorate the teaching staff construction.

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The Formalistic Nature of Teacher Training in Rural Small-scale Schools Teacher training is important for faculty improvement; therefore the government has been investing human, material, and financial resources into it. Yet the result of teacher training is hardly satisfactory. As far as teacher training in rural small-scale schools is concerned, on one hand, theories are divorced from practices during pre-service training where pragmatic instructions give way to speculative knowledge. On the other hand, in-service learning lacks initiative. A teacher working for a rural small-scale school in Gansu Province revealed that, “Salaries vary little among rural teachers. The sheer difference between learning stuffs painstakingly and learning nothing, in the course of performance evaluation, is simply 200–300 Yuan. Why bother to attend the training?” The fact that pre- or in-service trainings is of little avail is detrimental to the professional development of teaching staff and the promotion of their vocational happiness. 2.5

3

Suggestions for Promoting Teaching Staff Construction in Rural Small-scale Schools

Firstly, the standardization system for rural small-scale school teachers should be constructed. Teachers serving at these schools should be examined in the same system with teachers of other kinds, while characteristics of the former should also be taken into consideration for building such standardization system in accordance with local conditions. In-service training for these teachers should be localized, benefiting from the dominating function exerted by the county-level education bureau. Secondly, the management mechanism for rural small-scale school teachers should be improved and the guarantee mechanism of expenditure should be established. Government should boost up its province-level organization, and even strengthen central arrangement for some poverty-stricken cities and provinces in Midwest area, to lay a solid foundation for constantly improving the management system and establishing the fair, open, and reasonable expenditure-guaranteeing mechanism. Meanwhile, government should standardize the policy implementation concerning allowance for rural small-scale school teachers, and formulate relevant policies as the assisting method, thus these teachers will receive the solid and complete benefits. Thirdly, teacher flow among rural small-scale schools should be regulated. In order to relieve teacher’s burnout (教师职业倦怠) and reinforce teaching staff construction, schemes such as “district-managed and school-employed”

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(“区管校用”) conducted by Cuiping District of Yibin City, Cichuan province, and “county-managed and school-employed” (“县管校用”) by Anhui Province are desirable attempts in transforming teachers from “school-bound” (“学校 人”) to “system-bound” (“系统人”). Local governments can adopt such practices accordingly as to strengthen the teaching staff construction in rural small-scale schools. Fourthly, conflicts among teachers should be alleviated by respecting and coordinating all parties. A reasonable system is very often a relative balance through gaming by all sorts of interest groups. Therefore, to tackle the conflicts arising from teaching staff construction in rural small-scale schools, government should base a tension-easing solution on respecting interests of parties representing regions, areas, schools, and teacher groups.2

2  Cao Yuan 曹原, Li Gang 李刚, “Chengxiang jiaoyu yitihua shiyexia de jiaoshi renshi zhidu chongjian 城乡教育一体化视野下的教师人事制度重建 [Reconstruction of Teachers’ Personnel Institution from the Perspective of Rural and Urban Education Integration],” Educational Science Research (2011) 5.14–17.

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Appendix 1

Statistical Communiqué on National Education Development in 2013 In1 2013, under the strong leadership of the State Council, the Priority Development Tactics of Education (教育优先发展战略) has been further implemented. The edu­ cation system has fully implemented national education plan, and strived to promote the sound and sustained development of education. Education equality has been further enhanced; structure of education has been optimized; and education quality has been improved. Great progress has been achieved in cultivation of talents as well as economic and social development service. Economic and social development has been provided with powerful talent and intellectual support.

1

Preschool Education

There were 198,600 kindergartens nationwide, an increase of 17,300 over the previous year. The number of children in kindergartens (including the attached classes) was 38.9469 million, an increase of 2.0893 million over the previous year. The number of kindergarten principals and teachers was 1.8851 million, an increase of 207,600 over the previous year. The gross pre-school enrollment rate [2] reached 67.5%, increasing by 3 percentage points over the previous year.

2

Compulsory Education

There was a total of 266,300 schools for compulsory education, a decrease of 15,500 over the previous year. The total enrollment in compulsory education nationwide was 31.9144 million persons. There were 138 million students at school and 9.0656 million full-time teachers. Nine-year compulsory education rate [3] was 92.3%.

2.1

Primary School

There were 213,500 primary schools in China, a decrease of 15,100 over the previ­ ous year. The total enrollment was 16.9536 million persons, 193,100 fewer than the previous year. The number of students at school was 93.6055 million, 3.3535 million 1  Source: The Website of the Ministry of Education.

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2019 | doi:10.1163/9789004389021_015

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fewer than the previous year. The number of graduates was 15.8106 million, decreas­ ing by 605,000 over the previous year. The net enrollment rate of primary-school-age children (小学学龄儿童净入学率) [4] reached 99.71%, of which the net enrollment rate of boys and girls were 99.70% and 99.72% respectively, with the enrollment rate of girls 0.02 percentage point higher than that of boys. There were 5.4949 million teaching and administrative staff [5], down by 43,600 over the previous year. The number of full-time teachers was 5.5846 million, a decrease of 823 over the previous year. The proportion of full-time teachers with required diplo­ mas [6] reached 99.83%, up by 0.02 percentage point from the previous year. The stu­ dent-teacher ratio was 16.76:1, up slightly from the 17.36:1 in the previous year. The total floor space of buildings in ordinary primary schools (including teaching venues) was 620.6485 million square meters, up by 30.0292 million square meters over the previous year. The proportion of schools with standard facilities and equipment [7] were as follows. The proportion of primary schools whose stadium/gymnasium area, sports equipment, musical instruments, fine arts equipment, and experiment apparatus for mathematics and natural sciences were up to standards were 51.44%, 52.13%, 50.13%, 50.09%, and 54.19% respectively.

2.2

Junior High School

There were 52,800 junior high schools (including 40 vocational junior schools) all over China, a decrease of 412 compared with the previous year. A number of 14.9609 million students were enrolled, down by 746,800 over the previous year. The number of students at school was 44.4012 million, down by 3.2294 million, while 15.6155 million students graduated, 992,300 fewer than the previous year. The gross enrollment rate of junior high schools was 104.1%, increasing 2.0 percentage points over the previous year. 91.2% of junior high school graduates were able to enter senior high schools, an increase of 2.8 percentage points. There were 3.9288 million teaching and administrative staff in junior high schools, down by 10,300 over the previous year. Full-time teachers numbered 3.4810 million, decreasing 23,400 over the previous year. The proportion of full-time teachers with required diplomas was 99.28%, up by 0.16 percentage point from the previous year. The student-teacher ratio was 12.76:1, improving slightly from the 13.59:1 in the previ­ ous year. The total floor space of buildings in junior high schools was 500.7941 million square meters, an increase of 24.9735 million square meters over the previous year. The proportion of schools with standard facilities and equipment were as follows. The proportion of junior high schools whose stadium/gymnasium area, sports equipment, musical instruments, fine arts equipment, and experiment apparatus for mathematics and natural sciences were up to standards were 69.68%, 72.84%, 70.34%, 70.04%, and 77.57% respectively.

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Statistical Communiqué on National Education Development

2.3

Children of Migrant Workers and Left-behind Children

3

Special Education

195

The number of children of migrant workers [8] attending schools for compulsory edu­ cation in cities totaled 12.7717 million. Among them, 9.3085 million were in primary schools, and 3.4631 million in junior high schools. The number of left-behind children [9] attending schools for compulsory educa­ tion in rural areas totaled 21.2675 million. Among them, 14.4047 million were in pri­ mary schools and 6.8628 in junior high schools.

The number of special schools nationwide reached 1,933, an increase of 80 from the previous year, with 45,700 full-time teachers in total. These schools admitted 66,000 students with disabilities, an increase of 278 compared with the previous year. The total number of disabled students at school was 368,100, decreasing by 10,600. Among them, 40,100 students were visually disabled; the number of students with hearing dis­ abilities, intellectual disabilities, and other disabilities was 89,200, 185,000, and 53,800 respectively. Special education graduates numbered 50,700, an increase of 2,100 from the previous year. The number of disabled students admitted by ordinary primary and junior high schools, and special classes was 35,000; and there were 190,800 students at school. The two figures accounted for 53.12% of total special education enrollment and 51.84% of the total number of students at school respectively.

4

Senior Secondary Education

There were 26,200 schools for senior secondary education [10] nationwide, a decrease of 643 over the previous year. The number of total enrollment stood at 14.9745 mil­ lion, decreasing by 1.0129 million, while the total number of students at school reached 43.6992 million, down by 2.2536 million. The gross enrollment rate of senior high schools reached 86.0%, 1.0 percentage point higher than the previous year.

4.1

Ordinary Senior High School

The number of ordinary senior high schools decreased by 157 to 13,400, while the num­ ber of total enrollment decreased by 219,100, or 2.59% to 8.2270 million. The number of students at school was 24.3588 million, down by 312,900 or 1.27% over the previous year. The number of graduates reached 7.9898 million, an increase of 74,700 or 0.94%. The number of teaching and administrative staff in senior high schools reached 2.4736 million, up by 11,000 over the previous year. Full-time teachers numbered 1.6290

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million, increasing 34,000 over the previous year. The student-teacher ratio was 14.95:1, a slight increase compared with the 15.47:1 in the previous year. The proportion of fulltime teachers with required diplomas was 96.80%, up by 0.36 percentage point from the previous year. The total floor space of buildings in senior high schools was 435.6014 million square meters, an increase of 13.1349 million square meters over the previous year. The proportion of schools with standard facilities and equipment were as follows. The proportion of junior high schools whose stadium/gymnasium area, sports equipment, musical instruments, fine arts equipment, and experiment apparatus for mathematics and natural sciences were up to standards were 82.86%, 84.67%, 82.52%, 82.94%, and 86.02% respectively.

4.2

Adult Senior High School

4.3

Secondary Vocational School

There were 611 adult senior high schools nationwide, a decrease of 85 over the previ­ ous year, while the number of students at school decreased by 33,500 to 110,700. The number of graduates was 104,000, down by 12,300 over the previous year. The number of teaching and administrative staff totaled 6,061, decreasing by 1,282. There were 4,618 full-time teachers, a decrease of 1,183 from the previous year.

There were 12,300 secondary vocational schools [11] in China, a decrease of 401 over the previous year. Among them, there were 3,577 ordinary secondary polytechnic schools (普通中等专业学校), down by 104 over the previous year. There were 4,267 vocational senior high schools, a decrease of 250 over the previous. Technical schools numbered 2,882, decreasing by 19 from the previous year, while secondary polytechnic schools for adults (成人中等专业学校) numbered 1,536, 28 fewer than the previous year. The total enrollment of secondary vocational schools reached 6.7476 million, a decrease of 793,800, accounting for 45.06% of total enrollment of senior secondary schools during the year. Among them, the enrollment of ordinary secondary poly­ technic schools reached 2.7147 million, down by 58,900. The enrollment of vocational senior high schools was 1.8353 million, decreasing by 303,700 over the previous year. Technical schools admitted 1.3350 million students, 235,600 fewer than the previous year. The enrollment of secondary polytechnic schools for adults numbered 862,600, a decrease of 195,500. The number of students at school was 19.2297 million, down by 1.9072 million, making up 44.00% of the total number of students receiving senior secondary edu­ cation. Among them, there were 7.7218 million ordinary secondary polytechnic school students, down by 403,800 over the previous year. As for vocational senior high schools, the students at school numbered 5.3422 million, a decrease of 888,300. The number of technical school students decreased by 372,200 to 3.8659 million

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while that of adult secondary polytechnic school students decreased by 242,900 to 2.2998 million. There were 6.7444 secondary vocational school graduates, decreasing by 4,550 over the previous year. Among them, there were 2.6521 million ordinary secondary poly­ technic school graduates, down by 1,053 over the previous year. Graduates of voca­ tional senior high schools numbered 2.0452 million, a decrease of 129,200. The number of technical school graduates decreased by 36,300 to 1.1688 million while adult second­ ary polytechnic school graduates increased by 162,000 to 878,300. Teaching and administrative staff in secondary vocational schools totaled 1.1534 million, a decrease of 36,000 over the previous year. Among them, the number of teach­ ing and administrative staff in ordinary secondary polytechnic schools and vocational senior high schools numbered 419,300 and 375,400 respectively, with the decrease of 11,300 and 18,900 over the previous year. There were 269,400 teaching and administra­ tive staff in technical schools, up by 1,377 from the previous year while teaching and administrative staff in secondary polytechnic schools for adults numbered 727,000, a decrease of 4,767 over the previous year. The number of full-time teachers in secondary vocational schools was 867,900, down by 13,000 from the previous year. The student-teacher ratio [12] was 22.97:1, improving slightly from the 24.19:1 in the previous year. The number of full-time teachers in ordinary secondary polytechnic schools and vocational senior high schools numbered 303,600 and 301,400 respectively, decreasing 1,979 and 10,300 over the previous year. The number of full-time teachers in technical schools was 199,200, an increase of 2,298 while the number of full-time teachers in secondary polytechnic schools for adults reached 52,000, a decrease of 2,186 over the previous year.

5

Higher Education

There were 34.6 million students pursuing higher education in various kinds of col­ leges and universities around the country, and the gross enrollment rate reached 34.5%. There were 2,788 regular colleges and universities as well as colleges and uni­ versities for adults nationwide, a decrease of 2 over the previous year. Among them, there were 2,491 regular colleges and universities (including 292 independent col­ leges), up by 49 over the previous year, and 297 colleges and universities for adults, down by 51. Among regular colleges and universities, 1,170 were undergraduate insti­ tutions, up by 25 over the previous year and 1,321 were higher vocational colleges, up by 24. There were altogether 830 institutions offering masters’ and doctors’ degrees in China, including 548 regular colleges and universities as well as 282 research institutes.

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A total of 611,400 postgraduates were admitted, increasing by 21,700, or 3.68% compared with the previous year, including 70,500 doctoral candidates and 540,900 master’s candidates. The total number of postgraduates attending these graduate programs was 1.7940 million, increasing by 74,100, or 4.31%, including 298,300 doc­ toral candidates and 1.4957 million master’s candidates. There were 513,600 graduates, an increase of 27,200, or 5.59% over the previous year, including 53,100 doctors and 460,500 masters. The total number of students enrolled by regular colleges and universities reached 6.9983 million, an increase of 110,000, or 1.60% over the previous year. The total num­ ber of students at school reached 24.6807 million, increasing by 767,600, or 3.21%. Graduates totaled 6.3872 million, an increase of 139,900, or 2.24%. The number of students enrolled by colleges and universities for adults increased by 125,400 to 2.5649 million and the number of students attending these adult schools increased by 433,000 to 6.2641 million compared with the previous year. The number of graduates reached 1.9977 million, up by 43,400 over the previous year. A total of 7.6630 million people applied to sit for the self-taught higher edu­cation examination (高等教育自学考试), and 734,200 got their diplomas. The number of par­ ticipants in non-degree education programs was 9.587 million. There was an average of 9,814 full-time students in regular colleges and universities and higher vocational colleges nationwide. The average number of full-time students in undergraduate institutions and higher vocational colleges was 14,261 and 5,876 respectively. There were 2.2963 million teaching and administrative staff in regular colleges and universities nationwide, an increase of 41,900 compared with the previous year. The number of full-time teachers reached 1.4969 million, an increase of 56,600. The student-teacher ratio was 17.53:1. There were 56,400 teachers and administrative staff in colleges and universities for adults, a decrease of 9,195 compared with the previous year. Among them, the number of full-time teachers decreased by 5,746 to 33,600. The total floor space of buildings in regular colleges and universities [13] stood at 841.5495 million square meters, increasing by 30.9453 million square meters com­ pared with the previous year. The value of equipment and apparatus for teaching and research [14] were 330.958 billion RMB, up by 37.421 billion RMB over the previous year.

6

Adult Training and Literacy Education

A total of 6.7856 million students received non-degree higher education of various kinds nationwide, and 9.3377 million people graduated. A total of 49.1465 million students received non-degree secondary education of various kinds, and 53.4034 graduated.

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There were 112,300 vocational and technical training institutions nationwide, a decrease of 11,500 over the previous year. The number of teaching and administrative staff reached 482,200, including 274,300 full-time teachers. There were 21,800 primary schools for adults and 1.2426 million students at school nationwide. The number of teaching and administrative staff stood at 43,600. Among them, the number of full-time teachers was 22,600. The number of junior high schools for adults reached 1,768. The number of students at school as well as teaching and administrative staff was 482,300 and 7,281 respectively; among them, there were 5,833 full-time teachers. 505,900 people completed their courses in literacy schools or classes throughout the country, a decrease of 79,900 compared with the previous year. There were still 619,200 studying in these schools or classes, down by 69,800. There were 32,700 teach­ ing and administrative staff, a decrease of 5,607 over the previous year. The number of full-time teachers reached 15,400, decreasing by 2,402 over the previous year.

7

Non-state Funded Education (民办教育)

There were 149,000 non-state schools or education institutions of various types and at various levels throughout the country, rising by 9,057 over the previous year. The total enrollment reached 14.9452 million, an increase of 444,900. The total number of stu­ dents studying at these schools reached 40.7831 million, an increase of 1.6729 million over the previous year. Among them: There were 133,500 non-state kindergartens, up by 8,813 from the previous year. The number of enrollment was 9.0796 million, an increase of 423,400. The number of children attending kindergartens totaled 19.9025 million, up by 1.3751 million from the previous year. There were 5,407 non-state ordinary primary schools, increasing by 194 from the previous year. The total enrollment and the number of students at school reached 1.1128 million and 6.2860 million respectively, with the increase of 68,500 and 307,500. The number of non-state ordinary junior high schools reached 4,535, up by 202 over the previous year. The total enrollment was 1.6211 million, an increase of 43,100. The number of students at school was 4.6235 million, increasing 109,400 over the previous year. There were 2,375 non-state ordinary senior high schools, up by 4 from the previous year. The total enrollment decreased by 23,100 to 798,200 and the number of students at school decreased by 33,100 to 2.3164 million. There were 2,482 non-state secondary vocational schools, down by 167 from the pre­ vious year. The total enrollment and the number of students at school reached 731,600

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Appendix 1

and 2.0794 million respectively, with the decrease of 106,000 and 329,400. In addition, there were 302,300 students in non-degree secondary vocational education. There were 718 non-state colleges and universities (including 392 independent colleges), up by 11 from the previous year. The total enrollment increased by 949 to 1.6019 million. The number of students at school increased by 243,400 to 5.5752 mil­ lion, including 335 students on master’s programs, 3.6164 million students on bache­ lor’s programs, 1.9585 students in higher vocational colleges as well as 258,400 students enrolled in guidance classes for self-taught examinations, preparatory programs, fur­ ther education, and training programs. There were 802 non-stately-funded non-degree higher education institutions with 879,900 students registered in all types of courses. In addition, there were 20,100 non-state training institutions which trained 9.4356 million people during the year. Annotation: [1] Statistics of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Macao Special Administrative Region and Taiwan Province were not included. Because of rounding, some statistics are not equal to the totals of their components. [2] Gross enrollment rate refers to the percentage of the number of students at school, in a specific level of education, regardless of age, to the population in the offi­ cial age group corresponding to this level of education. Education levels include pre­ school education, junior secondary, senior secondary, and higher education. [3] Nine-year compulsory education rate refers to the percentage of the number of junior high school graduates to the number of first graders in primary school cor­ responding to this grade. [4] Net enrollment rate of primary-school-age children refers to the percentage of the number of primary-school-age students to the population in the official age group corresponding to primary education. It is calculated respectively according to different school age and systems in various regions. [5] Due to the fact that the number of teaching and administrative staff of nine-year education schools are included in junior secondary education, the number of teaching and administrative staff of twelve-year education schools are included in senior sec­ ondary education, while full-time teachers are classified according to education levels, there are situations where the number of teaching and administrative staff is smaller than that of full-time teachers in terms of primary school. [6] Proportion of full-time teachers with required diplomas refers to the percentage of full-time teachers with officially-required diplomas in a specific level of education to the number of full-time teachers corresponding to this level of education. The required diplomas of teachers in various levels of education refer to the regulations in Teachers Law of the People’s Republic of China 《中华人民共和国教师法》 ( ). To obtain qualifications for a teacher in a primary school, one shall be a graduate of a secondary normal school or upwards; to obtain qualifications for a teacher in a junior middle school, or a teacher for general knowledge courses and specialized courses in Dongping Yang - 978-90-04-38902-1 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 11:15:48AM via free access

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a primary vocational school, one shall be a graduate of a specialized higher normal school, or other colleges or universities with two or three years’ schooling or upwards; to obtain qualifications for a teacher in a senior middle school, or a teacher for general knowledge courses and specialized courses in a secondary vocational school, technical school or a vocational high school, one shall be a graduate of a normal college or other colleges or universities with four years’ schooling or upwards. [7] Schools with standard facilities and equipment refers to schools whose sta­dium/ gymnasium area, and sports equipment are up to the standards regulated by Notice of the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Finance on Issuing the Basic Standards for the Trial Implementation of National School Sports and Health Conditions (JTY [2008] Reference No. 5) 《教育部卫生部财政部关于印发国家学校 ( 体育卫生条件试行基本标准的通知》[教体艺(2008)5号]); musi­cal instruments, fine arts equipment, and experiment apparatus for mathematics and natural sciences are up to the standards regulated by provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government. Ordinary primary schools, junior high schools, and senior high schools are included. [8] Children of migrant workers refer to school-age children and teenagers of migrant workers with household registration status in other provinces (including dis­ tricts and cities) or other counties (districts) within this province who immigrate into urban or county areas with their parents (live together) and receive compulsory educa­ tion there. [9] Left-behind children refer to school-age children and teenagers who are left behind in their domiciles by their parents who emigrate from rural areas for work over three consecutive months. They receive compulsory education under the care of one of their parents or other relatives. [10] Senior secondary education includes ordinary high schools, adult senior high schools, and secondary vocational schools. [11] Secondary vocational schools include ordinary secondary polytechnic schools, vocational senior high schools, technical schools, and secondary polytech­ nic schools for adults. [12] The statistics of technical schools are not included in the student-teacher ratio of secondary vocational schools. [13] [14] The statistics include the space and value owned and not owned by HEIs. Source: In this communiqué, the statistics of technical schools are from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security; the statistics of self-taught higher education examination are from National Education Examinations Authority; and others are from Department of Development Planning, the Ministry of Education. Source: In this communiqué, the statistics of technical schools are from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security; the statistics of self-taught higher education examination are from National Education Examinations Authority; and others are from Department of Development Planning, the Ministry of Education. Dongping Yang - 978-90-04-38902-1 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 11:15:48AM via free access

Appendix 2

Top 10 Educational Hotspots in 2014 Launch of Examination and Enrollment Reform in Colleges and Universities (高校考试招生制度) Strict Implementation of “Nearby Enrollment Policy” (“就近入学”) in Compulsory Education in 19 Cities Improvement of School-running Conditions (办学条件) of Low-performing Schools in Poverty-stricken Areas Release of Comprehensive Education Reform Scheme of “Two Universities and One City” (“两校一市”) College Corruption in Scientific Research (高校科研腐败) Receives Much Concern Plan of the Modern Occupation Education System Integration of Traditional Culture into Teaching Materials Flourish of Online Education Innovation Frequent Campus Accidents New Influence of the Household Registration System Reform (户籍制度改革) on Enrollment of Migrant Workers’ Children

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2019 | doi:10.1163/9789004389021_016

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Appendix 3

Report on Trends of Overseas Study in 2014 China Education Online (www.eol.cn)

According* to the statistics of the Ministry of Education, the number of Chinese studying abroad reached 413,900 in 2013, increasing by 3.58% over the previous year. This increase indicates an obvious slowdown after the 5-year high-speed growth with the annual increase of over 10 percent. In spite of the clear slowdown, the number of students pursuing bachelor degree and below grows rapidly with an obvious tendency of low age. More and more Chinese are studying abroad, however, the acceptance rate of Chinese students by famous schools are declining. Firstly, the applicants for famous schools are increasing while the enrollment rate has a tendency to fall, Meanwhile, Chinese students, lacking competitiveness in the face of growing requirements and difficulties of enrollment, can hardly meet the requirements of worldfamous schools from the perceptive of English skills and academic abilities. With the tendency of low age getting more obvious, the proportion of Chinese students pursuing master’s degrees abroad drops sharply. However, there is a rapid rise in the number of students studying for bachelor’s degrees. For instance, there were 103,427 Chinese students studying for master’s degrees and 93,768 studying for bachelor’s degrees in the United States; the gap between the two numbers is narrowing. Moreover, the number of students studying in senior high schools begins to grow dramatically. The increasing needs of young students for international education lead to the rapid development of international class in China’s senior high schools. Therefore, the quantity and enrollment of international class keeps rising. The international class is featured by expensive tuition, various courses, and different diplomas awarded. From the perspective of region, international class, which has been developing rapidly in the first-tier cities, has a tendency to expand in second and third-tier cities. These years have witnessed the continuous growth of both international students and overseas returnees while the growth of the latter has exceeded that of the former. As it’s shown in the statistics of the Ministry of Education, the number of overseas returnees reached 353,500 in 2013 with the increase of 29.5%. However, these overseas returnees are under great employment pressure. The fact that popular majors such as business management and engineering are preferred by many international students not only causes major over-concentration (专业扎堆), but also has a negative impact on employment. The overseas returnees suffer from decreasing employability, * This article was published by www.eol.cn on March 13, 2014.

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fierce domestic competition due to major over-concentration, as well as high employment pressure. The majority of international students have high employment expectation as well as high requirements on the starting salary, which outnumber the actual salary level. Meanwhile, students and parents should consider studying abroad from a rational view under the circumstances where the glamour of international students is fading in China.

1

General Trends of Overseas Study Development in China

1.1

The Total Number of International Students Increases Continuously with a Sharp Slowdown The Total Number of International Students Increases Continuously

1.1.1

Currently, China has become the largest international student exporting country around the world with the total number of 3.0586 million students studying abroad by 2013. As it’s shown in Figure 1, there has been a continuous increase in the number of Chinese students studying abroad since 2000 except a slight decrease in 2004. The recent statistics of the Ministry of Education show that there are 413,900 Chinese students studying abroad in 2013, increasing by 3.58% from the previous year.

1.1.2

The Growth of International Students Decreases Distinctly with Callback Phenomenon

In general, the number of Chinese students studying abroad has been increasing continuously with several fluctuations since the Reform and Opening-up. The growth rate of international students has reached the peak in 1978, 1985, 1992, and 2001, among which the growth rate of 2001 numbered 115.38%. After 2001, the growth rate fell greatly for a short period before a steady recovery and it presents a balanced trend. According to the recent statistics of the Ministry of Education, the growth of Chinese students studying abroad fell considerably to 3.58% in 2013. There is a slowdown in the growth. Despite the decrease from 2003 to 2004, the number of international students has been increasing since 2005. After reaching its peak of 27.53% in 2009, the growth rate of Chinese students studying abroad has been declining slightly yearly. In 2013, the grow rate dropped to only 3.58% with a large slowdown. In conclusion, despite of an upward trend, there is a sharp slowdown in the total number of Chinese students studying abroad.

1.1.3

The Industry Scale of Overseas Study Has Exceeded 200 Billion Yuan

With the growth of international students, the market of overseas study has been expanding. According to the survey, the industry scale of overseas study in China has Dongping Yang - 978-90-04-38902-1 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 11:15:48AM via free access

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exceeded 200 billion Yuan currently, among which the proportion of expenditure abroad has reached 85%, occupying the highest proportion. The tuition of different countries varies while that of the United States is the highest. The tuition fee of private universities and public universities in the United States are about 240,000 to 300,000 yuan and 100,000 to 240,000 yuan respectively. The total number of tuition and living expenses of Chinese international students is about 150 to 200 billion Yuan. The expenditure abroad of Chinese students studying abroad accounts for over two thirds of the whole nation’s overseas study industry. In terms of the domestic overseas study industry, language training takes up 13%, a relatively large proportion, of the market share. Examinations such as IELTS, TOEFL, and SAT are the standardized tests required by colleges and universities abroad. There is an increase in the candidates in these tests because of the growth of the international students; and most of the candidates would choose the corresponding training courses. The survey shows that the market scale of training for overseas study examinations has reached 30 billion Yuan. What’s more, the majority of the international students handle the procedures with the help of the agencies, thus the service cost of study agencies accounts for 2% of the total market share. The current charge of agency services varies from 15,000 to 60,000 Yuan in accordance with the specific factors including countries and schools. The market scale of overseas study agencies reaches at least 5 billion yuan.

1.2 1.2.1

Trends of Chinese Students Studying Abroad in Different Countries There is a Continuous Growth in the Number of Students Studying in the United States and in the Application for Famous Schools

As the number of Chinese students studying in the United States keeping increasing, the United States has become the most popular destination country for Chinese over­ seas students. Among all the international students in the United States, the proportion of Chinese students keeps climbing, increasing from 11.6% in 2007 to 28.7% in 2013. According to the of Open Doors Report 《开放报告》 ( ) of the USA, India has been the largest source of international students in the United State by 2008, followed by China. However, the number of international students sent by China to the United States ranked first all over the world in 2009. Having increased from 62,582 in 2005–2006 school year to 235,597 in 2012–2013 school year, this number has created a new record. The number of Chinese students studying in the United States increased by almost 3 times in 8 years. More and more Chinese are studying abroad, however, the acceptance rates of famous schools are declining while the requirements enhancing; consequently, the chance of Chinese students being admitted by famous schools is declining. The number of the famous school applicants keeps increasing while the acceptance rate of American schools falls continuously. As it’s shown in Figure 8, there is a growth in the number of applicants for Yale University, Brown University, Cornell University, Dongping Yang - 978-90-04-38902-1 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 11:15:48AM via free access

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Appendix 3

and Stanford University from 2004 to 2013.The number of the applicants totaled about 20,000 in 2004, among which Brown University and Cornell University have the least and the largest applicants of 15,286 and 20,822 respectively. However, both of the number of applicants for Cornell University and Stanford University was close to 40,000 in 2013, doubling the number in 2004. Brown University hasn’t released its statistics in 2013 yet, however, the number of the applicants has reached 28,742 in 2012, nearly twice as that in 2004. And the number of the applicants for Yale University reached 29,610 in 2013, increasing by 10,000 compared with 2004. In the fierce competitions of application, the number of applicants keeps growing while the acceptance rate continues to decline. The acceptance rate of Cornell University fell dramatically which decreased from almost 30% in 2004 to 15.56% in 2013, with the increase of nearly 50%. Although the slightest drop belongs to Yale University, the acceptance rate still decreased from 9.9% in 2004 to 6.9% in 2013. The acceptance rate of Stanford University fell from 12.97% in 2004 to 5.69% in 2013, which is lower than the rate released by the Yale and Cornell. Brown University hasn’t released its acceptance rate in 2013 yet; however, based on the tendency before, despite of certain irregularities, there is still a downward trend in the acceptance rate, which dropped from 15.12% in 2004 to 9.6 in 2012. Among the top 50 universities in the United States, 45.83% clarify that the TOEFL score of the applicants should be above 100; scores over 90 are required by 16.67% of the universities while over 80 are required by 14.58% of them. Only few universities accept applicants whose TOEFL scores are below 80 while there is no clear requirement on TOEFL in 18.75% of the universities. According to the Test and Score Data Summary for TOEFL iBT®Tests 《托福考试及 ( 成绩汇总报告》 ) released by Educational Testing Service, the average TOEFL score of Chinese candidates was 77 from 2010 to 2012, far from the requirements of the famous schools. It’s hard for Chinese candidates to be admitted, compared with the requirements on SAT of the top 50 universities in the United States. The SAT scores of only 4.96% of Chinese candidates were over 2,000 in 2013, however, the same score is required by 65.63% of the top 50 universities. The SAT scores of 8.77% of the Chinese candidates are from 1,800 to 2,000 while this score is required by 28.13% of the schools. The scores of 86.27% of the Chinese candidates were below 1,800, while only 6.25% of the top 50 universities accept the scores from 1700 to 1800. The scores below 1,700 are accepted by none of these universities. Consequently, from the perspective of academic abilities, the majority of Chinese students can’t meet the requirements of the famous universities in the United States and they are short of competitiveness during the application.

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Report on Trends of Overseas Study in 2014

1.2.2

The Reform of Visa Policies in the United Kingdom Hasn’t Influenced the Growth of Overseas Study

The United Kingdom has officially cancelled the PSW visa scheme on April 2012, a scheme offering international graduates the 2-year visa for post-study work. However, the change of policies hasn’t influenced the Chinese overseas students according to the trend of recent years. There is a growth in the number of Chinese students studying in the United Kingdom, with the increase declining slightly. The United Kingdom is the second most popular destination country for Chinese overseas students. According to Higher Education Statistics Agency, the number of Chinese students registering in colleges and universities in the UK for the first time reached 56,535 in 2013–2013 school year, which is twice as the number of 2008–2009 school year. The growth rate of Chinese students studying in the UK slows sharply while the total number keeps rising. The growth rate of Chinese students registering for the first time dropped from 37.29% in 2008–2009 school year to 5.62% in 2012–2013 school year. This slowdown indicates the steady trend of the increase.

1.2.3

The Popularity of Chinese Students Studying in Australia Rebounded

The closedown of a large amount of Australian private vocational colleges in 2009 impacted the Chinese overseas students. Therefore, the number of Chinese students studying in Australia has been falling since 2010. In recent years, Australian government has formulated new policies to stimulate overseas study, for example, Streamlined Visa Processing (SVP) in 2012, Post-Study Work Stream (PSW) in 2013 and so on. The number of Chinese studying in Australia rebounded in 2013. Influenced by the closedown of private Australian vocational colleges, the number of Chinese oversea students has been declining from 2009 to 2012 after reaching its peak of 91,524 in 2009. In 2013, having increased for the first time in 4 years, this number has reached 78,277, close to that in 2008. Before certain slowdown, the growth rate of the number of Chinese students studying in Australia reached 27.63% in 2007, which is its peak among 10 years. Having decreased from 2010 to 2012, this growth rate rebounded to 6.42% in 2013.

1.2.4

Steady Growth of the Number of Chinese Students Studying in Canada and Canada’s International Education Strategy (国际教育战略)

As one of the most popular destination countries for Chinese overseas students, Canada has witnessed the steady growth of the number of Chinese overseas stu­ dents there years. In order to further promote overseas study, Canada has launch edits

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International Education Strategy on January 2014, which claims that “Canada aims to nearly double the number of international students it attracts with a goal of 450,000 international students and researchers by 2022.” There is an upward tendency of the number of Chinese overseas students in Canada since 2004. The number of enrollment of Chinese students reached 25,346 in 2012, increasing by nearly 2.5 times over 2004. There have been several fluctuations in the growth rate of Chinese students studying in Canada in the recent decade, among which the summit was in 2008 (with the growth rate of 36.77%) while the bottom appeared in 2010 (less than 10%). This growth rate remained steady around 20% in 2011 and 2012.

1.2.5

Many Countries Have Launched New Policies for Attracting Chinese International Students

Targeting the large market overseas study industry in China, other countries have been launching new policies and scholarships in order to attract Chinese international students. On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of China-France diplomatic relations, France has released many policies to simplify visa rules in 2014, including the “talent passport” for high-quality talents, in an aim to bring in more highlevel Chinese international students. The policy of talent passport will provide highquality university graduates, entrepreneurs, investors, enterprise representatives, and high-end talents the 4-year residence permits. In addition, instead of going through the permit every year, the international students will receive the residence permits which are valid as long as their schooling length. Set up by the Embassy of France in China in 2011, France Excellence is a scholarship supporting Chinese students pursuing master’s degrees in France. Covering majors including law, politics, journalism, information and media, economic management, humanity and social sciences, city planning, sustainable development and environment, and natural science and engineering, France Excellence covers the 750-euro monthly allowance, student social security, rental fee as well as social event subsidy. The award of scholarship in the second year is based on the academic achievements of the previous year. Fifty Chinese students will receive this scholarship in 2014. Holland has also simplified the visa rules for Chinese students in 2014. In addition to the shortage of application time, the highlight of this reform is that the applicants can send the files by mail instead of submitting by themselves. Orange Tulip Scholarship (橙色郁金香奖学金) is a scholarship program designed for applicants from mainland China. It is estimated that 46 Chinese students will receive a total of over 500,000 Euros scholarship offered by 20 universities in Holland in 2014.

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2

The “Largest Home-returning Peak” (“最大回国潮”) of Chinese International Students Aggravates the Employment Difficulty

2.1

Development Trends of the Overseas Returnees

2.2

Major Over-concentration of the Overseas Returnees

2.3 2.3.1

Decrease of Employability of the Overseas Returnees Fierce Domestic Competition of the Popular Major Graduates

The number of overseas returnees has been increasing rapidly with a nearly steep rise since 2000. Increasing from 9,121 in 2000, this number reached 353,500 in 2013, only 60,000 more than the number of Chinese students studying abroad in the same year. In general, there is an upward trend in the growth rate of overseas returnees from 2000 to 2013. Except for a few years during this period, the growth rate of 11 years is higher than 20% and that of 5 years exceeds 40%. The growth rate of overseas returnees reached 57.5% and 56.2% respectively in 2008 and 2009. According to the recent statistics of the Ministry of Education, the growth rate of overseas returnees reached 29.53% in 2013, which is relatively considerable in spite of the decrease compared with the figures of the past two years. Due to the “largest home-returning peak” in China, there is a continuous sharp increase in the number of overseas returnees, which results in the employment problem of the overseas returnees.

Major selection is one of the important reasons of employment difficulty. The major over-concentration of the overseas returnees puts the graduates of certain majors under greater employment pressure. According to the Employment Report on Over 10,000 Overseas Returnees in 2012 《2012 ( 万名留学人员回国就业报告》 ) released by Chinese Service Center for Scholarly Exchange (directly under the Ministry of Education), in terms of major distribution, the number of graduates of management, economics, science, and engineering, the most popular majors, took up 80% of the total overseas returnees.

The number of graduates majoring in management, engineering, and literature, the three popular majors of overseas study, occupied the highest proportion in the total number of Chinese universities graduates in 2012. Based on the statistics of National Bureau of Statistics of China, graduates of engineering took up the highest proportion (25.32%) of the total university graduates in 2012, with the number of 964,583. The number of graduates majoring in literature ranked second, with the number of 588,198 and the proportion of 15.44%. With the proportion of 13.87%, the third place belonged to the number of graduates majoring in management. The large number of graduates brings employment pressure to the corresponding graduates.

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Appendix 3

Followed by engineering, computer, and society and culture, business management is the most popular major among international students from all over the world, especially in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and China. The employment prospects of graduates of these popular majors, especially business management, are not entirely optimistic. Among the “red, yellow, and green-card” majors of employment in 2013, business management was listed as a yellow-card major for a second time due to its relatively large unemployment, low employment rate, low monthly income, and low job satisfaction.

2.3.2

Employment Expectation of International Students Outnumbers the Actual Salary Level

The cost of overseas study is far more than that of domestic learning, therefore, the majority of international students have high expectation of the income. 89.9% of the Chinese students planning to pursue master’s degrees in the United States have a salary expectation of over 60,000 Yuan in the first year, while only about 10% expect a yearly salary below 60,000 Yuan. However, the reality cannot meet the high expectation of starting salary. 67.2% of the overseas returnees earn less than 60,000 Yuan in the first year of employment, among which 36.5% receive less than 40,000 Yuan. Overseas returnees with the starting salary of over 60,000 Yuan accounts for only 32.8% of the total. As a result, there is a dramatic contrast between the reality and the expectation of the overseas returnees.

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Index 13th Five-Year Plan 67 100 education 11 2010 National Population Census 10 2010 Population Census 151 2014 National Education Work Conference  89–90 n. 1 2014 Survey Report on College Enrollment 25 A Collection of Drawings on Child Development Indicators in China: 2014 162–163 n. 1 academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering 14 Act on Higher Education and Vocational Education 70 Act on University of Applied Sciences 70 adaptive governance 70 admit students based on scores alone 27 Adult college-turned universities 64 adult secondary polytechnic school 197 adult technical secondary school 54 Alibaba 11 American International Education Society  140 Analysis and Study of the Implementation of the Three-Year Action Plan for Preschool education in Qiannan Autonomous Prefecture 134 n. 4 Analysis of the Equality of Government Spending on Preschool Education in China 134 n. 5 application-oriented technical colleges 4–5, 15–16, 60–61, 66–70, 72, 74 aptitude 32, 143 Assessment System of Vocational Education  49 Asset Transfer Tax 79 Assets Property 79 Austrian University of Applied Sciences 70 Barriers to the Development of Preschool Education in Poverty-Stricken Areas in China from Perspective of Equal Access to Education 135 n. 7 Basic Education Textbook Development Center, Ministry of Education 139 n. 47

Beijing Institute of Petrochemical Technology 63 Beijing Municipal Education Committee 8 Beijing National Day School 7, 25, 143 Beijing No. 35 Middle School 143 Beijing Normal University 111, 122 n. 47 Beijing Normal University Zhuhai 85 Beijing Railway System 94 Beijing Times 95 n. 3 budgetary education funds 58 Business College of Guizhou 82 Caixin Media Co., Ltd., 149 n. 47 Canada’s International Education Strategy 207 Capital Normal University High School 143 Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy  49 n. 47, 52 Center for Experimental Economics in Education of Shaanxi Normal University 52 Central China Normal University 134 Central Government 9, 13, 18–19, 35, 44–45, 47, 55, 60, 65, 67, 76, 90 n. 2, 108–109, 114, 120, 122, 124, 152, 158–161, 163 n. 2, 201 Central Work Conference on Urbanization 153 Changzhou Institute of Technology 63 Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business 69 children of peasant migrants 149–152, 154–160 the employees of big enterprises that have signed joint-development agreement with junior high schools 8 China Agricultural University 14 China Association for Science and Technology 14 China Development Forum 66 China Economist 135 n. 6 China Education Daily 49 n. 47, 90 n. 2 China Education Website 25 China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation  163 n. 3 China Higher Education Research 31 n. 14

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212 China Institute for Educational Finance Research 34 n. 47, 35 China Three Gorges University 82 China Women’s College 63 China Youth Daily 15 n. 3, 65 n. 3, 67, 69 n. 10, 77 n. 47, 80 n. 1, 82 n. 2, 101 n. 4 China’s Education Online 142, 145 China’s Social Landscape 2014: Analysis and Predictions 65 Chinese Advanced Placements 25 Chongqing Technology and Business University 84 Chongqing Xiejiawan Primary School 7 Chuanke.com 11 Chunteng English 12 City College of Zhejiang University 85 classification tests 21 Class Shifting System 24–25 closure, transfer, enrollment, and dismissal  186 college corruption in scientific research  202 college entrance exams 1–3, 17, 20–23, 26, 31, 37, 40, 53, 80, 82, 141, 155, 161 College of Science and Technology of China Three Gorges University 82 colleges and universities demonstration higher vocational 15, 72, 76 transformation of 1, 4, 15–16, 46, 50, 60–61, 66–67, 69–73, 77, 88, 95 under the direct jurisdiction of State Departments and Ministries 62 with four-year schooling 49, 53, 82 college with four-year schooling 85 combination blows 8, 97 Company Law of the People’s Republic of China 86 competition over enrollment cut-off point  29 Comprehensive Reform Plan 3 Compulsory Education Law 91, 106, 161 concentrated destitute areas 9 n. 1, 10 Conference on Vocational and Adult Education 66 Constitution 106 construction of teaching staff 182–183

Index Construction Plan of National Education Comprehensive Reform Pilot Area in Shanghai Municipality (2014–2020) 3 contiguous areas with acute difficulties 163 Contract Law of the People’s Republic of China 87 Cornell University 13, 205–206 county-managed and school-employed  192 credit system 24, 143 cross-grade course selection 24 Decisions approved on the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China 18 Decisions of the CPC Central Committee on Major Issues in Deepening the Reform in an All-round Way 76 Decisions of the State Council on Accelerating the Development of Modern Vocational Education 4, 47, 60, 67 Decisions of the State Council on Vigorously Developing Vocational Education 55 Decisions on Accelerating the Development of Modern Vocational Education 41 Deepen Comprehensive Reform in Education Field, Accelerate the Modernization of Education Governance System and Governance Capacity 90 n. 1 Demographic Dividend 13, 51 designated towns 153 Development Planning Division of the Ministry of Education 81, 84, 87–88 difficulty and high cost of attending kindergarten 137 discussions in classes with a small number of students 4 district-managed and school-employed 191 division of examinations into liberal-arts subjects and science subjects 21, 23 dominated by the government 5, 118 Dongcheng District of Beijing Pushed Forward the Comprehensive Reform of Compulsory Education to Address the Difficulty of “admission to Junior High Schools” 101 n. 4 dredging and blocking 97

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Index East China Normal University 111 Education Development Research Center, Ministry of Education 139 n. 47 education factories 17 Education Plan 19, 157 Education Science Publishing House  108 n. 1, 109 n. 2, 115 n. 4 Education Statistics Report 111 n. 3 Education: The Fundamental Means to Improve the Wellbeing of the Disadvantaged Groups 135 n. 6 educational ecology 182 Educational Science Abstracts 125 n. 3 Elective System 23, 25 electronic enrollment status 8, 92 “Eleventh Five-Year Plan” Period 120 elite education 62, 73, 80 employment certificate in Beijing 94 Employment Report on Over 10,000 Overseas Returnees in 2012 209 EngTech International Children English Training Institution Manhattan English 12 enrollment cut-off point 29, 32, 36 Ensure the Stable Development of Preschool Education in Accordance with Law  138 n. 8 equity premiums 86 etiquette, favor, and relations 27 Examination and Enrollment Reform in Colleges and Universities 202 examination concentration camps 17 examination-oriented education system 1–6, 8, 14–29 n. 12, 31–32, 34–35, 38, 41–45, 47, 50–51, 53–54, 56–58, 60–61, 65–74, 76–77, 79, 90 n. 1, 91–92, 94, 98, 100–101, 103–108, 111, 113, 116–120, 122–123, 127–128, 132–133, 135, 137–138, 143, 150, 152, 154–161, 179, 182–183, 191–193, 200 exueda intelligent platform 11 Fenhu high-tech District (Lili Town) of Wujiang District, Suzhou City 6 fierce competition 11, 36, 43, 206 five insurance and one fund 188 Flipped Classroom 12 Free Normal Education Program 185

213 free senior secondary education 57 Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University  84 Fujian Normal University 84 Gaokao reform Abolishment of ‘ScoreOriented’ Enrollment in 31 n. 14 Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Sichuan Province 131 general education 4, 30, 60, 71–74, 105 Germantown Academy in the United States 143 Gini Coefficient 50–52 government spending on pre-school education 124–125 government-run universities 62–63 government spending on education 13 Graduate School of Education/Institute of Economics of Education, Peking University 20 n. 47 Graduate School of International Development, Nagoya University  89 n. 47 Grandet 87 gross enrollment rate of the three-year preschool education 126, 134 Guangzhou Daily 24 n. 7 Guidance for High School Students 26 Guidebook for the Learning and Development of 3–6-Year Old Children 127, 133, Guizhou University 82, 84 Harbin University 63 High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China 12 higher education classification 4, 15, 22, 31–32, 60–61, 70–71, 73–76 colleges 3–5, 13–16, 26, 28–30, 32, 39–41, 49, 53, 60–63, 65–74, 76–83, 85–86, 120, 130, 185, 197–198, 200–201, 205, 207 institutions 2–3, 8, 10–17, 27–31, 37, 41, 44, 48, 57, 60–63, 66–76, 81–82, 85–86, 90, 94, 98, 104, 108, 119–120, 129, 133, 144, 146–147, 197–200 schools 5, 14–15, 37, 61–62, 65, 69, 72–74, 77, 104, 107–108, 141

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214 Higher Vocational Schools-Turned Universities 63 Holland University of Applied Sciences  70 household register 94 household registration (Hukou) reform 149, 201 household registration system reform 150, 152, 158, 161 How to Reform Higher Education 69 Huanghuai University 68 Huazhong University of Science and Technology 69, 84 Hubei University of Technology 84 hundred-point-system 26 Implementation Measures on Academic Performance Tests by Regular Senior High Schools in Zhejiang Province 23 n. 5 Implementation Measures on Elective Examination Subjects for Enrollment by Regular Institutions of Higher Learning in Zhejiang Province 23 n. 5 Implementation Opinions 21–22, 32, 99 Implementation Opinions of Henan Province on Deepening Household Registration System Reform 158 Implementation Opinions on Admission and Enrollment Work of the City at the Compulsory Stage in 2014 156 Implementation Opinions on Deepening Reforms of the Examination and Enrollment System 20–22 n. 2, 28 n. 10, 31 n. 13 Implementation Opinions on Deepening the Examination Enrollment System 2 Implementation Opinions on Making Further Efforts to Replace the Examination-based Enrollment of Junior High Schools with Nearby Enrollment 7, 90 Implementation Plans of Shanghai Municipality of Deepening the Comprehensive Reform of College Examination and Enrollment System 21 in situ urbanization 153 “Inclusive Education: The Way of the Future”  118 inclusive growth 19

Index independent colleges 63, 68–69, 77–88, 197, 200 Industry-specific schools-turned universities  64 Information Office of the State Council 67 inheritance of traditional Chinese virtues by young people 7 initiated by the government and guided by the market 5 initiative to accelerate the change 33 Innovation of Local Education System Based on Streamlined Administration and Decentralization 1 institutional governance 70 institutions of higher education 13, 81, 85–86 Instrument of Ratification for Study of the Children of Taiwan Compatriots 93 integration of three considerations 3, 21, 26 interconnected and ternary structure consisting of academic, professional, and vocational education 60 Interim Measures on the Management of Kindergarten Charges 127 International Association of the Visually Impaired 105 n. 47 International Bureau of Education, United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization 118 n. 6 International Forum on Industry and Education 68 Interpretations of the Three-Year Action Plan for Preschool Education of Henan Province 125 n. 3 iron cage of regulations 27 Ivy League Colleges & Universities in the US  13 Journal of Education Development 123 n. 1, 134 n. 5 Journal of Qiannan Normal University for Nationalities 134 n. 4 junior colleges 53, 62, 66–67, 72 Junior Normal Colleges-Turned Universities  63 key colleges and universities 65 Keystone National High School in the United States 143

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Index Kindergarten Establishment Standards  128 Kindergarten Work Procedures 128 Law on the Protection of Disabled Persons  106 learning from Shanghai 6 lecturers in classes with a large number of students 4 left-behind children 10, 16, 135, 165, 179–180, 195, 201 Letter of Certificate on Receipt of Compulsory Education in Beijing by Children of Overseas Chinese 93 Letter of Entrance 93 Letter of Introduction for Children of Postdoctoral Research Fellow 93 Liaoning Normal University 111 life-long learning 17, 32 local colleges and universities 4, 15–16, 60–63, 65–66, 68–71, 73–74, 85 local institutions of higher learning  1, 30, 88 long-standing headache 8 Luoyang Normal University 63 major force 5 major over-concentration 203–204, 209 major school investor 5 mass education 62, 71, 80 Master Plan for Higher Education in California, USA 70 Measures for Managing Residence Permit in Shanghai 156 Measures on Supervising, Guiding, and Evaluating Secondary Vocational Education 56 Measures on the Establishment and Management of Independent Colleges 77 Medical and Technology School of Zunyi Medical College 82 Member of the Special Education Committee of The Expert Committee of National Basic Education Curriculum Textbooks 105 n. 47 Memorandum 7 migrant children 10–11, 16, 150–151, 155 migrant laborers 149

215 Ministry of Education 2–3, 7, 9–10, 12, 14, 20 n. 47, 60–61, 66–69 n. 10, 70, 72, 77, 81, 83–84, 87–88, 90–91, 93, 100, 111 n. 3, 116, 123, 125, 127–130, 133, 136, 139 n. 47, 140, 151, 155, 180, 185, 193 n. 1, 201, 203–204, 209 Ministry of Finance 9, 61, 67, 87, 123, 129, 136, 160 n. 10 Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security 72, 136, 201 Ministry of Science and Technology 14 Modern Education News 95 n. 3 Modern Vocational Education System Building Plan (2014–2020) 4, 61, 67 Nanjing Normal University 83 Nanjing University of Science 83 National Bureau of Statistics 58, 149, 158 n. 9, 209 national demonstration senior vocational schools 62 National Development and Reform Commission 9 National Development Plan for Children in Poverty-stricken Areas 10, 163 n. 2 National Education Plan 2, 7, 193 National Education Statistics Bulletin of Ministry of Education (2013) 61 National Health and Family Planning Commission of the People’s Republic of China 152 National Institute of Education Sciences  105 n. 47 National Post-doctor Regulatory Commission 93 National Primary School Sports Work Conference 7 National Reform and Development Commission 88 Nearby Enrollment Policy 97 net enrollment rate of primary-school-age children 194, 200 New Citizen Program of Public Interest Groups 151 n. 4 New Dynamic Institute 12 new normal 1, 16–18, 89–90, 99 New Steering Model 70 New York University Shanghai 3

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216 newly-established local colleges and universities 62–63 government-run universities 69 Private-run colleges and universities 78 Ningbo Institute of Technology of Zhejiang University 85 non-guardianship certificate in local place 94 non-state funded education 199 non-state kindergartens of public interest  124 non-state school teachers 186 Northwest Socioeconomic Development Research Center 52 Notice of the Ministry of Education on Further Guaranteeing the Funds for Village Primary Schools and Teaching Venues 183 Notice of the Ministry of Education on Further Improving the Funds Guarantee for Village Primary schools and Teaching Places 180 Notice of the Ministry of Education on Printing out and Distributing the Guidebook for the Learning and Development of 3–6-Year Old Children 133 Notice of the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Finance on Issuing the Basic Standards for the Trial Implementation of National School Sports and Health Conditions 133, 201 Notice of the Office of the Ministry of Education on Making Further Efforts to Replace the Examination-based Enrollment of Compulsory Education with Nearby Enrollment in Key Big Cities 90 Notice on Implementing the State Plan of Training Kindergarten Teachers 129 Notice on Increasing Government Investment in Pre-school Education to Support Pre-school Education Development 123 Notice on Making Further Efforts to Replace the Examination-based Enrollment of Compulsory Education with Nearby Enrollment in Key Big Cities 8 Notice on Providing Subsistence Allowance for Rural Teachers in Contiguous Destitute Areas according to the Requirements of No. 1 Central Document in 2013 183

Index Notice on Standardizing the Child Care and Education Work in Kindergartens; Prevent and Rectify the “Education of Kindergarten Students Like Primary School Students” 130 Notice on Strengthening the Management of Subsistence Allowance for Rural Teachers 183, 188 official-rank-oriented 18 Open Doors 140 Open Doors Report 205 Opinions of the State Council on Addressing the Issues Related to Peasant Migrants 152 Opinions of the State Council on Further Pushing Forward Household Registration System Reform 150 Opinions on Developing Preschool Education at Present 137 Opinions on Implementing Phase II Three-Year Action Plan of Preschool Education 136 Opinions on Improve the Basic Schooling Conditions of Weak Schools at Compulsory Education State in Poverty-stricken Areas in an All-round way 9 Opinions on Promoting the Development of Undertaking for the Disabled 114 Opinions on Regulating the Layout Adjustment of Rural Compulsory Education Schools 182 Opinions on Strengthening the Development of Kindergarten Teachers 136 Orange Tulip Scholarship 208 Order No. 26 77, 81, 83–86 ordinary secondary polytechnic schools  196–197 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) 128 Outline of China’s National Plan for Medium and Long-term Education Reform and Development 57, 89, 106, 135 overall planning by provincial governments  19 overthrow New Oriental English 11 parent universities 79–80, 83, 86–87 Pearl River College of Tianjin University of Finance and Economics 85

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217

Index People’s Education 138 n. 8 Phase I Three-Year Action Plan of Preschool Education 122 Phase II Three-Year Action Plan of Preschool Education 133, 135–136 Pilot Plan of Zhejiang Province on Deepening the Comprehensive Reform of College Examination and Enrollment System 21 pilot school of autonomous management 5 Plan for China’s New-Type Urbanization: 2014–2020 153 policy of designation of primary schools for each junior high school 8, 92 policy of designation of the same enrollment area for multiple junior high schools 8, 92 policy of “relying mainly on local governments and public schools 10 Policy Research & Exploration 11 n. 2, 151 n. 3 Popularization of Higher Education 81 post school closure and merger era 182 pre-employment 4, 36–42, 45–47, 118 Princeton University 13 Principal’s Professional Ranking System 71 Priority Development Tactics of Education  193 Private Colleges Established in the Name of Public Universities 82 n. 2, 83, 85 private institutions of higher learning 83 private, non-business institutions 17, 29, 34, 41–44, 47–48, 69, 78, 83, 85–87, 97, 99, 144, 205, 207 private-run secondary colleges 77 private-run universities 62 Professional Standards for Kindergarten Teachers 136 program design and structural adjustment  65 program design 58 program development 65 Program for International Student Assessment 6 Program to Improve the Weak 19 project 211 universities 13, 15 project 985 universities 13–15 proof of army dependents 93 proof of residence in Beijing 94, 154 Property Law of the People’s Republic of China 86

Provisions on Implementing Strict Disciplines in the Enrollment of the Compulsory Education Stage 95 Public Administration Movement 70 public institutions of higher learning 78, 80, 82–83, 85 public investment for senior secondary education 54, 58 pupils with special talent 8, 93, 100 red tapes 6, 60 Reform and Opening-up 50–51, 111, 204 regular higher education system 4, 67, 69, 77 regular institutions of higher learning 2, 13, 15, 22–23, 82–83, 85–86, 107 Regular Private Institutions of Higher Learning 83 regular technical secondary school 54 Regulations on Education for People with Disabilities 106 Regulations on the Implementation of the Law on Promotion of Privately-run Schools 86–87 Renai College of Tianjin University 85 Report on the Development of China’s Migrant Population 152 Report on the Development of China’s Special Education 108 n. 1, 109 n. 2, 115 n. 4 Report on the Trend of Studying Abroad in 2014 142, 145 Research on the Practice of Education Model and School Transformation of Regular Senior High Schools 7 Research on the Themed Teaching Practice of Primary School Chinese 7 Research on the Tracking and Evaluation of the Pilot Plan of College Entrance Examination Reform 20 n. 47 Research Report on the Transformation of Local Colleges and Universities 62 research-oriented universities 4, 14–15, 61, 65–67, 71 Rural Education Action Plan 49, 52 rural small-scale schools 182–186, 190–192 “school closure and merger” 182 School of Economics, China Renmin University 159

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218 school-bound 192 School-running conditions 45–46 secondary polytechnic schools 196–197, 201 selection-based employment of vice school-level cadres 5 selective admission 8, 98 self-discipline mechanism for admission authority 27 self-governance 70–71 self-taught higher education examination  198, 201 Senior Technician Seminar 75 separation of management, operation, and evaluation 5 serviceman certificate 93 Seven Forbidden Types of Behaviors 14 Shaanxi Normal University 49 n. 47, 52 Shandong Provincial Government Spent over 5.7 Billion Yuan on Preschool Education Last Year to Expand Preschool Education Resources 124 n. 2 Shangdong University of Finance and Economics 84 Shanghai Dianji University 63 Shanghai Municipal People’s Government  28 n. 11 Shanghai Normal University 141 Shanghai Residence Permit 156 Shaoxing University 85 Short-term College of Technology 75 Shunde District Government of Foshan City 5 Sichuan Normal University 84 Sichuan University 84 SIFL Institute 156 simultaneous dredging and blocking 8, 97 Sino-Foreign jointly-run universities 63 small and micro schools 17 small plum blossom “courses” 7 SmartStudy.com 11 Southern University of Science and Technology 3 special talent education 100 special-grade senior teachers 99 special-post teacher program 184–185, 189 Stage II Three-Year Action Plan of Pre-school Education 10 Standards for the Toys and Teaching Facilities in Kindergartens 128

Index State Administration of Taxation 88 State Commission Office of Public Sectors Reform 136 State Council 4, 10, 20–21, 41, 47, 55, 60, 66–68, 87, 150, 152–153, 158, 163 n. 2, 182, 185, 193 State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission 88 state-run school teachers 186 Statistical Communiqué of Shanghai Municipality on the 2013 National Economic and Social Development  152 n. 6 Statistical Report on National Education Undertakings in 2013 151 stratification of higher education institutions 76 stratified teaching 24 streamlined administration and decentralization 1, 5, 18 streamlined government administration 18 Strong Starting Point III: Quality Toolbox for Child Education and Child Care 128 structural adjustment of higher education  60 structural vacancies 175, 183 n. 1 Student Registration Management Measures for Primary and Junior High School Students 155 students with special talent 100 subsistence allowance 183, 188–189 Sun Yat-Sen University 84 super middle schools 17 Survey on the Structure of Teaching and Administrative Staff and Demand in Special Education Schools in China  115 n. 5 Suzhou University 78, 84 system-bound 192 Taihu College of Jiangnan University 78 Taihu University of Wuxi 78 teacher’s burnout 191 Teacher’s Law of the People’s Republic of China 200 teaching place(s) 9, 16, 162–169, 171, 174–175, 177, 180–181 teaching venues 182–183, 194 Temporary Shanghai Residence Permit 156

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219

Index Tencent Class 11 tenured employment 4 Test and Score Data Summary for TOEFL iPT® Tests 206 The 21st Century Education Research Institute 97, 162 n. 47, 163 The Chinese Society of Education 105 n. 47 The First National Conference on Special Education Work 110 the First State-level Teach Award in Basic Education 7 The Guide of Science and Education  135 n. 7 the interlayer of a sandwich 79 The “Largest Home-Returning Peak” 209 The Leading Party Group 84 The Plan for Promoting Special Education: 2014–2016 105–106, 109 “The Plan to Improve the Weak” 9 The Rights and Responsibilities of Provincial Government to Make Overall Planning for Local Independent Colleges Will Increase 80 n. 1 “the road to build application-oriented technical universities with Chinese characteristics” 4 the Second World War 50 The Sword of Damocles 153 The Third Plenary Session of the 17th CPC Central Committee 55 The Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee 153 The Three-Year Action Plan 123–125, 128–129, 133–135, 137–138 The Three-Year Action Plan of Preschool Education: Retrospect and Prospects  123 n. 1 three insurance and one fund 188 Three Ministries and Commissions Provide Solutions to Addressing the Worries of Migrant Workers 151 n. 3 Three-Year Action Plan of Pre-school Education 10, 122, 137 Tianjin College of University of Science & Technology of Beijing 84 time-honored local colleges and universities  62 Tongling College 63

transfer from not-state school teachers to public-run school teachers 186 Tsinghua University 3–4, 16 Tsinghua University Primary School 7 tuition-free normal college students 129 Twelfth Five-Year Plan 126 two-teacher class 12 undergraduate-level vocational colleges and universities 60–61, 63, 66, 72, 74, 76 United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)  162 United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organizations 117–118 n. 6, 122 n. 47 University Charter 3 University of California 13, 70 University of Finance and Economics  84–85 University of Pennsylvania 13 values learning and undervalues practice  32 vice central chairman of China Association for Promoting Democracy 159 vocational education at undergraduate level high school 2–3, 21–24 n. 6, 25–26, 31, 35–37, 40, 46, 49, 52–57, 68, 89–104, 107–108, 111–112, 119, 129–132, 135, 139–148, 151, 155, 157, 161, 185–186, 194–197, 199–201, 203 post-graduates 72 schools 67–68, 90 undergraduates 12, 30, 72, 140 Wanxue Education 11 Wasatch Academy in the United States 143 website of China’s Central Government 67 Wenhua College 69 Wenzheng College of Suzhou University 78 Wenzhou University 84 Work Plan for the Children of Migrant Workers to Take Part in Entry Examinations to Schools in Beijing after Finishing Compulsory Education 101 World Bank 54, 73 n. 13, 161 World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) 17

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220 Xueda Education 11 Xuetaobao 11 Yale University 13, 205–206 Yangtze River Delta 63 Yangtze University 84 Yichang Education Industry Development Company 82 YouChange China Social Entrepreneur Foundation 12 Yuanpei College 85 Yunnan Normal University 84 Yunnan University 84

Index Zhangiagang City 6 Zhejiang Announced Gaoko Plan on 19, Likely to Implement the ‘Class Shifting System’ Where One Student has One Class Schedule 24 n. 7 Zhejiang Provincial Education Examinations Authority 23 Zhejiang Provincial People’s Government 23 n. 3, 29 n. 12 Zhejiang University 84–85 Zhenjiang Municipal Education Bureau of Jiangsu Province 5 Zhongshan Institute of University of Electronic Science and Technology 85 Zhumadian Joint Declaration 68

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