Chinese Education and Society: Editor's Introduction

Chinese Education and Society

Volumn 38, Issue 4, 2005, Pages 3-10

  Postiglione, Gerry ^a  

^a NONE

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EID: 26444603021     PISSN: 10611932     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/10611932.2005.11031708     Document Type: Editorial

References (9)

1. The law was finally passed after four readings of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress in eight years. Moreover, the law came into effect in September 2003, shortly after the government released the "Regulations on Sino-foreign Joint Ventures in Education." By this time, the government had already approved over 700 Sino-foreign educational joint ventures.
2. Yang Dongping recently produced two books on education in China, a self-authored volume titled Jiannan de richu: Zhongguo xiandai jiaoyu de 20 shiji (The Long Awaited Sunrise: China's Contemporary Education in the Twentieth Century) (Shanghai: Wenhui Press, 2003)
3. and an edited volume titled Daxue jingshen (University Spirit) (Shanghai: Wenhui Press, 2003).
4. According to Ren Yuling, a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the campaigns to make nine-year compulsory education universal brought about 2.1 billion yuan of debt to Hubei, 1.5 billion yuan to Shaanxi, 140 million to Xinyang in Henan, and 130 million to Bazhong in Sichuan (cited in Yang Dongping, Zhongguo jiaoyu lan pi shu [China's Education in 2003: From Growth to Reform] [Beijing: Higher Education Press, 2003]).
5. Zhongguo jiaoyu bao (China Education Daily), November 6, 2003. In Tuanfeng county, Hubei alone, twenty-one schools were shut down.
6. A school survey in rural western regions indicated that 38 percent do not have enough desks and chairs, 22 percent have unsafe classrooms, and 33 percent do not have enough funds to buy teaching aids (i.e., ink, chalk, and other supplies).Yang Dongping, Zhongguo jiaoyu lan pi shu (China's Education in 2003: From Growth to Reform) (Beijing: Higher Education Press, 2003). Tax reform has made the shortage of education funds for compulsory education in rural areas even graver. The reform did alleviate farmers' burdens substantially, but it also reduced the revenue of township governments dramatically. During the 2000-2002 period, 80 percent of the growth of compulsory education funds in Anhui province was personnel expenses. The percentage of public funds for compulsory education in rural areas in total expenditure declined consecutively, from 22.98 percent to 19.75 percent and then to 18.4 percent, down by 4.94 percentage points. More schools faced difficulties in continuing their operations. According to research conducted by the Yincheng Finance Bureau in Hubei province, the total revenue of the seventeen towns in 2002 was 45.3098 million yuan, down 39.2922 million yuan or 46.4 percent compared with the 1999 figure before tax reforms. The revenue of the seventeen town governments decreased by 23.232 million yuan or 38.1 percent. The revenue of a single town government declined by 1.3666 million yuan on average; revenue at the village level decreased by 1606.02 million or 68 percent, a decline of 38,900 yuan on average. At the first meeting of the Tenth National People's Congress held early this year, Wang Bintai and 375 other deputies proposed a bill "to speed up the amendment of the Compulsory Education Law." The amended law should clarify the sharing of funds for compulsory education between governments at various levels and establish an effective system to secure the funds for compulsory education. More and more people called for free compulsory education in rural areas.
7. See www.people.com/cn/GB/kejiao/40/20030406/964244/html. Due to low income and lack of security, many teachers left schools in some regions. Luotian, Hubei lost over 100 teachers in a single summer vacation. Xinyan, Henan, and Xianfan, Hubei, lost over 300 and 600 teachers, respectively. According to the survey conducted by Xinhua Viewpoint correspondents of Xinhua News Agency, Jichun county, Hubei province lost more than 800 teachers, most of whom left for counties and large and medium cities where living conditions are relatively better. See also
8. Hu Pingping, "Clarify Legal Channels for Education Input," Renmin zhengxie bao (CPPCC Daily), September 11, 2003.
9. Since 2002, some primary and junior secondary school teachers in border areas of Yunnan Province have gone to Vietnam to teach. See "Help Compulsory Education in Rural Areas to Cast Off Poverty," Zhongguo jiaoshi bao (Chinese Teachers Daily), March 12, 2003.