Overview of the Education System in
China
Nonie Wiggins
Arkansas State University
March 30, 2010
www.maps.com
Chinese Population by Gender
http://www.nationmaster.com/country/ch-china/Age-_distribution
History/Governance
 4000 years of Chinese Dynasties – feudalism dominant
 Up to 1027 B.C. - Education was a privilege. Goal to produce
government officials. Focus on “Six Arts” – rites, music archery,
chariot riding, history and mathematics.
 770-221 B.C – Confucius philosophy dominant in education
 Personal conduct
 Principles of society & government
 Opium War (1840-1842) – China lost to Britain.
 Western education introduced by Christian missionaries.
 1911 Revolution, Sun Yat-sen ended monarchy
 More western type education
 Did not want to lose Chinese identity (Confucius)
 1949 – Communist rule – “People’s Republic of China”
 Soviet Model of Education – focus on technological needs
 Higher ed. was focus – less than half children in primary & secondary school
 Mao’s “Walking on two legs” - balance of Western Education & Confucian
 Vocation/work study
 Regular university, college & college prep
 1966 – Cultural Revolution
 Classes stopped until fall 1967 – each level shortened
 Development of “commune” schools for agricultural regions
 1976- present - Educational Reform was twofold
 “Four Modernizations” - agriculture, industry, national defense, science & technology
 “Four Cardinal Principles” – the socialist road, the people’s democratic dictatorship,
the Chinese Communist Party leadership, and Marxim-Leninism-Mao Zedong thought
 Educational elite schools weeded out
 Rural primary enrollment declined – children needed to work rather than go to school
 4 types of secondary schools – Keypoint middle schools, non-key general or ordinary
middle schools, specialized technical secondary schools, vocational schools
Surowski, D. http://math.ksu.edu/ dbski/publication/history.html
 1985 – (Post Mao) – “Decision of the Reform of the Education
System”
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To bring about the Four Modernizations
To increase state funding for education
To insure that the education system shall supply a sufficient number of
qualified personnel
To institute a 9-year compulsory education policy
To expand the system of technical and vocational education
To give provisions for reform of higher education (eg. To change the
system of job-assignments to graduates and to grant colleges and
universities more decision making powers)
To strengthen educational leadership
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State Education Commission formed
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Allow president of a college or university to be the CEO
1995 – “Education Law of the People’s Republic of China”
Principles & General Objectives of
Education
 “…Education in the People’s Republic of China must serve
the construction of the socialist modernization, be combined
with production and labor, and foster builders and successors
with all round development of morality, intelligence and
physique for the socialist cause. Education shall be carried
out in the spirit of inheriting and expanding the fine
historical and cultural traditions of the Chinese nation and
assimilating all the fine achievements of the civilization
progress of human beings.”
World Data on Education. http://www.ibe.unesco.org
Goals of the Reform
 Reduce youth illiteracy to <1% & increase adult literacy to
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90%.
9 year compulsory education with 95% enrollment
Strive for admission age of 6 years
Increase senior secondary enrollment to > 50%
Increase higher ed. enrollment to 11% (9.5 million;
700/100,000 people)
Further develop pre-service and in-service, job transfer
training, and continuing education to have a “comprehensive
social education system and lifelong learning”
World Data on Education. http://www.ibe.unesco.org
Education System in China
Pre-school
education
Elementary
education
Secondary education
Higher education
Compulsory education
Kindergarten
Pre-school
class
Primary
school
Regular
junior
middle
school
Vocational
junior
middle
school
Regular
senior middle
school
Graduate
school
Secondary
vocational
school
College
University
Technical
school
Short-term
vocational
university
Vocational
middle
school
Advanced
technical
school
Outcomes of the Reform
 Increase in kindergarten enrollment (36.8% in 2000; 47.3% in
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2008)
99% of primary students were admitted to junior middle schools
in 2007
79.9% of junior middle school students were admitted to senior
middle schools (29% increase since 2000)
106% more senior middle school students in 2007 than 2000
Increase in secondary vocational school students 10.4 million in
2000 to 19.8 million in 2007
Curriculum Examined – past curriculum placed too much focus
on basic knowledge (rote memorization) and too little on practical
courses.
“Hidden Assumptions of the Reform Policy”
 Youth key to developing the nation in the future.
 Meaningful experiences are as important as knowledge
delivery.
 Students need to learn how to learn.
 The reform is for all of basic education.
 Reforms success depends on teachers and students as well as
the policy makers.
Feng, D. (2006). China’s recent curriculum reform: progress and problems. Planning and Changing. 37, 1&2, pp 131-144.
Integrated Practical Courses for Senior Middle
Schools
To Provide:
 Field work for enrichment
 Discovery and problem solving skills
 Practical skills and abilities
 Foster collaboration
Through
 Research oriented studies
 Community service
 Hands on working activities
Information technology was also
incorporated into the new curriculum
 Compulsory courses: information retrieval, processing,
expression, resource management, & information technology
& society.
 Electives – algorithm & program design, multimedia
technology, network technology, data management, artificial
intelligence
Providing Elective Courses
Curriculum Structure of
Regular Senior Middle Schools
Integrated
Practical Activities
Arts
PE
and Health
Technology
Science
Humanities and
Social Science
Mathematics
Integrated
Practical Activities
Arts
Music
Fine Arts
PE
and Health
Info Technology
General Technology
Biology
Chemistry
Physics
Geography
History
Moral Education
Mathematics
Foreign Language
Including compulsory and elective modules
Modules
Chinese
Subjects
Language and
Literature
Fields of
Study
Zhu Muju, Basic Education in China Presentation, March 2009
Three Tiered Curriculum
 Gives more control locally
 Class hours mandated by the state
 80-84% State mandated courses
 16-20% Local and school based courses
Zhu Muju, Basic Education in China Presentation, March 2009
Challenges and Criticisms of Reform
 Larger classes
 Increased competition for school and college entrance
 Primary schools are local. Others are competitive.
 Migration of teachers to urban areas – rural areas have trouble
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with inflexible curriculum
Increased teacher workload.
Local control may ignore student/parent interests
Cultural dilemmas –Western v. Chinese leadership styles among
school leaders
Government wants immediate outcomes – not enough data yet.
Feng, D. (2006). China’s recent curriculum reform: progress and problems. Planning and Changing. 37, 1&2, pp 131-144.
Financing of Education in China
 Local schools are financed by local budgets.
 Central treasury of China also provides some funding.
 2002 – Social investment in education was1.94% of GDP
 State’s investment was 3.41% of GDP
 Other financial input
 Social enterprises
 Extra fees tuition
 Fundraising
 Donations
Pre-school Education
 Not compulsory
 More in urban than rural areas – full time, part-time,
boarding
 Rural areas preschools are mainly nurseries
Photos: Farrell, L. (2004). An emergent curriculum in China: collaborative tolerance. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 59(2). 243-250.
Primary Education  Ideology & moral character
 Chinese language
 Math
 Society – not until 4th
 Nature
 PE
 Music
 Painting
 Work –beginning grade 3
World Data on Education. http://www.ibe.unesco.org
Lower Secondary
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Ideology & politics
Chinese language
Math
Foreign language
History
Geography
Chemistry
Physics
Biology
PE
Music
Painting
Work Skills
World Data on Education. http://www.ibe.unesco.org
Vocational Education
 Junior vocational – part of the 9 years compulsory (3-4 yrs)
 Mostly in rural areas to provide basic professional knowledge &
skills to workers, peasants & employees
 Secondary vocational – (3-4 years)
 Practice oriented technical and normal schools
 Tertiary vocational - (2 years)
 for high school and secondary vocational graduates.
 Vocational training courses – managed by the department of
education and labor but provided by the employers
Special Education
 For blind, deaf or mentally retarded children and teens
 1539 special education schools
 Some students attend regular school
 Many are kept at home or institutionalized. Some immigrate
to US.
http://www.china.org.cn/english/features/38282.htm
Crawford, R. – personal conversation March 2010.
Classes/schools
 Uniforms unique to each school
 Segregated either by school or by class in higher grades
Higher Education
 Very competitive
 Entrance exams
 Some problems with autonomous regions & municipalities
 Moral assessment and physical constitution
 Assessment of Higher Ed.
 Self-assessment
 Administrative organizations
 Social assessment
 Graduation Requirements
 Complete all courses
 Complete thesis
 Are up to standard in morality.
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.smellchina.com/wordpress/wpcontent/uploads/2009/10/wuhandaxue-2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.smellchina.com/2009/10/wuhan-university/&usg=_
Teacher Education
 Examinations for best candidates
 Chinese citizen
 Must be sound ideologically and politically
 Good knowledge of pedagogy
 Good physique
 Graduate from:
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normal school for pre-schools
secondary normal schools for primary schools
Two year normal colleges for junior-middle schools
Normal or other universities & four year colleges for senior secondary.
Post-graduates or undergraduates from universities for teachers of schools of higher
learning
 Television outreach for teachers
Zhu, X. and Han, X. (2006). Reconstruction of the teacher education
system in China. International Education Journal, 7(1). P 66-73.
Discipline
 Do not bring shame to family
 Discipline is not usually a problem
 In the past corporal punishment was used.
Other Issues
 Military training for both girls & boys. Boys have mandatory
military service
 Conformity is stressed. No individuality.
 All know standing in the class.
 Grades are announced
 Shame if performance is not perfect
 You are from the province of your ancestors.
 Must have foreign passport to attend private institutions
 Study abroad is encouraged. Many with PhD’s do not return
References
China in World Data on Education. 6th ed. Retrieved 1/20/10 from http://www.ibe.unesco.org/.
China Education. Retrieved from http://www.china.org.cn/english/features/china/239636.htm on 3/27/10.
Colb, S. (January 26, 2005). China announces that it will criminalize sex-selection abortions; what, if anything, should the U.S. do about the practice in this
country: retrieved 3/28/10 from http://writ.news.findlaw.com/scripts/printer_friendly.pl?page_/colb/20050126.html.
Crawford, R. Personal communication 3/28/10.
Farrell, L. (2004). An emergent curriculum in China: collaborative tolerance. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, 5(7), pp.243-250.
Feng, D. (2006). China’s recent curriculum reform: progress and problems. Planning and Changing. 37 (1&2). P. 131-144.
Introduction to China. Retrieved from http://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/china.htm. on 3/17/10.
King-Head, S. (2010). China-Us: PhD students stay on. University World News. Retrieved from
http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story+2010030511225767 March 17, 2010.
Kvaternik, R. (2001). Teacher education through distance learning. Education Sector, Higher Education Division, Teacher EducationSection . Fontenoy,
France.UNESCO
Ministry of the Education of the People’s Republic of China available at http://www.moe.edu.cn/edoas/website18
Muju, Z. (2009). Basic education and curriculum reform in China (Presentation).
Premier reports on Outline of new 5 year plan (II). Retrieved from http://english.peopledaily.com./english/200103/05 on 1/20/2010.
.
Special education and vocational education. Retrieved 3/28/10 from http://www.china.org/cn/english/features/38282.htm.
Surowski, D. editor. History of the educational system of China. Retrieved from http://www.math.ksu.edu/~dbski/publication/history.html. on 1/20/2010.
Zhu, X. & Han, X. (2006). Reconstruction of the teacher education system in China. International Education Journal. 7(1). 66-73.