Beijing Academy of Educational Sciences Universalizing Nine-Year Compulsory Education for Rural Human Resources Development --China’s Experience Presented by Zhang Tiedao Beijing Academy of Educational Sciences P.R. China Apr. 8, 2004

By the end of 20th century, China has achieved its national dual goal for basically universalizing nine-year compulsory education and eliminating illiteracy among youths and adults.

Contents of Presentation 1. Background 2. Implementation Strategies 3.Achievements and Impact 4. Lessens Learned 5. Problems and Countermeasures

I. Background 1. Status of Basic Education in the 1980s: Early 1980s: National average years of schooling less than 5. Enrolment at primary level (1985): 133.7 million ( 95.9% of the cohort). Total enrollment of lower secondary schools (1985): 39.6 million, (36.76% of the cohort).

I. Background 2. New demand for human resources rising from the successful rural economic system operated at household, in place of the commune system Farmers’ basic learning needs was stimulated with their expectations for further learning of new agro-technologies for more productive use of lad resources Reemployment from traditional labor-intensive farming to more skill-based economic engagement either in rural and urban communities Rapid urbanization and surplus of rural labor i.e. rural-urban migration

I. Background 3. National goal for 9-year compulsory education and adult literacy by 2000 85% coverage in populated areas nationwide Enrollment rate: 85% at lower secondary level, 99% at primary level

II. Implementation Strategies 1. Decentralization of funding system Shared responsibility among governments and the rural community (since 1985) Regulated funding system primarily at county level （since 2001）

II. Implementation Strategies 2. Establishment of judiciary arrangement Law for Compulsory Education of P. R. China（1986） Measures on Enforcing the Law for Compulsory Education（1992） Regulations for education inspection Local regulations for field implementation

II. Implementation Strategies 3. Increase of government special projects   Title Duration Investment (RMB) Compulsory education project for poor areas 1995-2000 12.46 billion 2001-2005 7.25 billion State-subsidized stipend for students from poor families 1997 130 million/year 100 million/year Special aid for free textbooks 2001-2003 700 million/year Allowances for teachers’ salaries Since 2001 5 billion/year Reconstruction of dilapidated buildings 3 billion 2003-2005 6 billion Distance education program for rural schools 2003-2007 9 billion

II. Implementation Strategies 4. Extensive mobilization of resources from the community and other donors During the 1996-2000 period, 31 billion RMB Yuan was donated to rural compulsory education programme by the community including overseas contributions. The Project of Hope raised 2 billion RMB Yuan for construction of 8,300 new schools in rural villages, which attracted 2.3 million dropout children back to schools. Spring Bud Project has raised 500 million RMB Yuan which assisted 1.3 million girls from poor rural and ethnic families to access schooling and built over 200 “Spring Bud Schools” for 14 years.

II. Implementation Strategies 5. Developmental project aided by international agencies World Bank Unicef UNDP UNESCO DFID

II. Implementation Strategies 6. Inspection and accreditation system Frequency—Once a year Indicators—government funding, changes with enrollment, retention and achievement, qualification of teachers Process: self-evaluation, field inspection, random-selected re-evaluation, rewarding/punishment

II. Implementation Strategies 7.Improvement of Quality of Compulsory Education To promote curriculum and pedagogical renewal at rural primary and secondary schools To strengthen teacher and principal training To implement distance education programme in poor areas

Ⅲ. Achievements and Impact 1. Considerable increase in universalization of rural compulsory education provision Figure 1: Number of population receiving NYCE out of every 100,000 people in 1990 and 2000 饿发的发个的个

Ⅲ. Achievements and Impact 2. Positive changes in teachers’ qualification Figure 2: Changes with Primary and Secondary School Teachers Nationwide

Figure 3: Regional gap of enrollment rate at primary level Ⅲ. Achievements and Impact 3、普及农村九年义务教育的成就与效益 Figure 3: Regional gap of enrollment rate at primary level 3. Reduction in Regional Disparity

Ⅲ. Achievements and Impact Reduction of Disparity in Education Reduction of Gender Disparity Figure 4: Enrollment Rate for Basic Education by Gender

Reduction of Ethnic Disparity Ⅲ. Achievements and Impact Reduction of Ethnic Disparity Figure 5: Gap between Enrolment rate of primary School-age children in Minority Areas and the National Average Enrollment Rate of Primary Education by Ethnic Minority

Ⅲ. Achievements and Impact 4. Increase of economic growth contributed by universal rural compulsory education Upon universalizing primary education, with 1% increase in entrance rate of school agers, per capita GDP may grow by 0.36-0.59% annually.

Table 1: Relationship between Farmers’ Education and Incomes Ⅲ. Achievements and Impact 5. Education for Increase of Peasants’ Income Table 1: Relationship between Farmers’ Education and Incomes Group Percentage of farmers with lower secondary education or over （%） Percentage of farmers with vocational training or education （%） Highest income 56.9 8.6 Second high group 52.3 5.4 Medium income 47.7 4.3 Second low income 44.8 3.9 Lowest income 39.3 2.9

Impacts on the agricultural productivity Impacts on poverty reduction Ⅲ. Achievements and Impact 6. Educational Investment stimulates productivity growth and farmers’ income generation Table 2: Impact on the Agricultural Productivity and Poverty Reduction by Various Investment Investments Impacts on the agricultural productivity Impacts on poverty reduction Agricultural R&D 7.97 (1) 3.36 (3) Irrigation works 1.15 (6) 0.39 (6) Road 4.91 (4) 2.96 (4) Education 6.68 (2) 6.30 (1) Electricity 3.90 (5) 2.92 (5) Communications 5.29 (3) 4.02 (2)

Ⅲ. Achievements and Impact 7.Education Contributes to the Transference of Redundant Labourers in Rural Areas Compulsory education is foundation and backup for transference of redundant labourers in rural areas The transferring labourers have reached 23.85 million in 2002, among which 62.7% have got the secondary education attainment, and youth and adults accounted for the majority.

Ⅳ. Lessons Learned Governmental firm commitment and effective measure are reliable ensurance for universal NYCE. Different planning and implementing strategy for NYCE responsive to regional development disparities in economy and education. Readjustment of management and financing system based on contextual economic and financial system. Special favorable policies for the disadvantaged have been adopted to promote the equity of education provision. Establishment of long-term monitoring mechanism by strengthening inspection and accreditation. Ushering in international expertise and effectively utilizing overseas fundings

Ⅴ. Problems and Countermeasures Challenge with wide gap between rural and urban educational status Challenge with county-based funding and management system Challenge with educational quality.

Countermeasures Countermeasures To make efforts to improve level and quality of universalizing NYCE and lay groundwork for generally universalizing NYCE and upgrading quality of compulsory education by 2010. To establish the guarantee mechanism of compulsory education in rural areas, implement compulsory education administration system with county government as the main management body, strengthen the obligation of central and province financial departments’ investment in the compulsory education in rural areas To promote quality education through the experiment of the national new curriculum and massive in-service teacher training programs To initiate the national priority project on rural distance learning in all rural schools for rural urban sharing of quality educational resources and thus enhance quality of rural education provisions

Countermeasures Countermeasures To deepen rural education reform, promote rural vocational and adult education with the strategy of “integration of basic education, vocational education and adult education” and “combination of agricultural production, technological innovation and education development”. To establish and improve stipend system to support students from rural poor families to access compulsory education To mobilize more extensive international cooperation in pursuit of external support

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