China : challenges of secondary education

SECONDARY EDUCATiON SERIES 22856 August 2001 CHINA: CHALLENGES OF SECONDARY EDUCATION Xiaoyan Liang ED UCATh ON T HE WO0R LD B AN K   Contents Foreword ............................................... iii Introduction ................................................1 Description of the Chinese Education and Training System .......................1 Economic, Social and Demographic Context ..............................................3 Educational Context ................................................4 Challenges in Primary Education ................................................5 Challenges in Secondary Education and Training .......................................6 Goals and Objectives ................................................6 Coverage and Equity ................................................6 Efficiency ..........................................................8 Internal efficiency ................................................8 Public Expenditure on Education and Unit Costs (public) ..........9 External efficiency ............................................... 10 Teachers ............................................... 11 Quality and Learning ............................................... 12 Curriculum and Teaching ............................................... 12 Exams and Assessment ............................................... 13 Management and Institutional Development .................................... 14 General Secondary Education ................................................ 14 Vocational/technical Education ................................................ 15 Private sector involvement ................................................ 15 Innovations and Government Strategies ................................................ 16 Primary Education ................................................ 16 Secondary Education ............................................... 17 Summary of Issues ................................................ 18 References ............................................... 20 i   Foreword Welcome to the Secondary Education Series of the Human Development Network, Education Group at the World Bank. The World Bank has been assisting developing countries in their efforts to reform their secondary education systems for more than 35 years. During this period, the context and imperatives for education reform have changed considerably due to various factors such as globalization of the world economy and the impact of new technologies. This new environment requires rethinking the traditional way of providing secondary education and training systems and both industrializing and industrialized countries are grappling how best to prepare their youth to become productive workforce as well as responsible citizens. Thus, this series will address a wide range of topics within secondary education that reflect the challenges that we are facing now. The publications in this Secondary Education Series might broadly be considered to fall into two categories, though there are clearly overlaps: those papers addressing policy issues and those describing in more detail particular countries' experiences. This paper, "China: Challenges of Secondary Education", is in this second category. The intention behind these country case studies is to expose the complexity of secondary education and training systems and the correspondingly difficult choices that governments face in reforming them. It is only through a clearer understanding of what is happening in particular countries that fruitful discussion and analysis, and further research, can take place. We hope that these case studies stimulate debate. We welcome your comments. World Bank Human Development Network Education Group June 2001 iii   Introduction The Chinese education system is going through fundamental changes following the economic opening up and reforms. Since the 1980s, among other things, China has experimented and implemented universal primary education, fiscal decentralization in education, expansion of higher education, diversification (now perhaps reverse of diversification) at the secondary level. These reforms have resulted in a mixture of successes and challenges which are worth documenting as they provide valuable lessons to other countries undertaking similar reforms. This paper, therefore, attempts to provide an overview of the achievements, issues and challenges of the primary and secondary education system in China. Emphasis is particularly placed on the secondary education system first because the paper originated as a case study on secondary education. More importantly, the issues in secondary education are more complicated and diverse but at the same time less well-known than those of the primary system. The term "secondary education" is loosely defined to include lower and upper secondary schooling (formal general and vocational), vocational training, and other regularly available education opportunities, such as non-formal equivalency programs. All types of secondary education and training require primary education. The data employed in this report come from both Ministry of Education's publications of annual statistics, as well as from the published databases of UNESCO, the World Bank, UNDP. Description of the Chinese Education and Training System Primary education in China follows a six-year cycle except for a few localities where it is still 5 years. The primary age cohort is 7-12 years old. As of 1998, there are 600,000 primary schools and more than 139 million primary students enrolled in the system. There is no diversification of curriculum at this level, though regional variation is allowed to a certain extent to reflect the local culture. In secondary education and training, there are two parts: the formal part and the informal (Fei Zheng Gui Jiao Yu) part, both following the 6-year cycle of primary education. Figure 1 describes the formal education system in China. The shaded area is the formal secondary education and training sector, which consists of junior secondary and senior secondary of general, vocational and technical tracks. Junior secondary (Chu Zhong) is a uniform 3-year cycle. Since it is part of compulsory education, there is usually no diversification of curriculum at this level '. ' There are still a small number ofjunior secondary vocational schools with an enrollment of about 0.8 million in 1998. But this type of school is slowly disappearing. I  Table 1 presents total number of schools, students, and teachers by level of education. Table 1. Number of schools, student enrollment, and teachers by level of education Type of Schools No. of Schools Enrolment Full-time (millions) Teachers _ _ ~~~~~~~~~~~(m) _ Total Primary 609,626 139.0 5.80 General Secondary Schools Junior Secondary 63,940 53.6 3.10 Senior 13,948 9.38 0.64 Specialized Secondary Schools . Sec. Technical Schools - 3,234 4.06 0.22 Teacher Training Schools (shi fan) 875 0.92 0.06 Vocational Schools Junior 1,472 0.87 0.04 Senior 8,602 4.55 0.30 Craftsmen Schools 4,395 1.9 0.12 Total Secondary 96,466 75.3 4.50 Source: Ministry of Education, 1998. Essential Statistics of Education in China. Senior secondary (Gao Zhong) education is also a 3-year cycle. There are four types of senior secondary schools: general senior secondary (Pu Tong Gao Zhong), technical or specialized secondary (Zhong Deng Zhuan Ke Xue Xiao), vocational secondary (Zhi Ye Gao Zhong), and craftsmen schools (Ji Shu Xue Xiao). By 1998, 45% of senior secondary students were enrolled in the general education track, whereas the other 55% were enrolled in specialized, vocational, or craftsmen schools. The general senior secondary schools are the most popular among students and parents as it is the only channel which may lead students to higher education institutions. And most of the general senior secondary schools are physically attached to junior secondary schools. * General senior secondary schools have an academic curriculum, with university entrance as its sole aim. * Technical or specialized secondary schools are designed for the training of technicians. 2  Traditionally, such schools fed respective Government departments the required manpower at the technician level. Until recently, graduates were guaranteed employment and the Provincial Education Offices were responsible in assigning graduates to various industries. This employment guarantee, however, was abolished in the mid-90s in the midst of economic reform and graduates are now responsible for looking for their own jobs.