Socio-political context & implications for teaching/educational policy
As the largest state-run education system in the world, Chinese education system has achieved considerable improvement in quality during the past decades due to continuous reforms as well as large-scale investments. Ever since the opening up of mainland China in the early 1980s, the government has attached great importance to the institutional reforms, directing focus to the equal education of diversified personnel and production of innovative knowledge China demands for its economic, scientific, political, and societal development. In addition to institutional reforms, public spending on education has increased substantially by double digits in recent years. Government’s spending on education reached the official target, 4% of the GDP, in 2012 and has remained above the figure ever since. Meanwhile, per capita expenditure of Chinese households on education also increased considerably, indicating the raising awareness of general population on the importance of their offsprings’ education. However, in general, the educational inequality still exist, especially across the regions illustrated in Figure 1 and between rural and urban areas.
Source: www.google.com
Compulsory Education Law was enacted and enforced since 1986 (current version revised in 2018) to stipulate 9 years of government funded compulsory school attendance, which includes 6 years ofprimary education (regular primary schools, 9/12-year schools, external teaching sites, adult primary schools) and 3 years of junior secondary education (regular junior secondary schools, 9/12-year schools, combined secondary schools, vocational junior secondary schools, adult junior secondary schools). The main purpose of compulsory education is to improve social justice/equity and the quality of the whole population. The curriculum of primary education includes subjects of Chinese, mathematics, English, ethics and rule of law, science, information technology (computer foundation), sports, music, and fine arts. The curriculum in junior high school includes several additional subjects, such as history, geography, biology (from 7th grade), physics (from 8th grade), and chemistry (in 9th grade). In March 2021, the Ministry of Education released the main results of the national education statistics for 2020, which reports that there are 158,000 general primary schools nationwide, with 18,080,900 newly-enrolled students and 107,253,500 current students. There are 6,434,200 full-time teachers in primary schools. The net enrolment rate of primary school-age children is 99.96%. There are 52,800 junior high school nationwide, with 16,321,000 newly-enrolled students, 49,140,900 current students, and 3,860,700 full-time teachers. The net enrolment rate of primary school-age children is 102.5%.
Senior secondary education
After completing 9 years’ compulsory education, students can choose between 3 years of senior high schools (including regular senior secondary schools, combined secondary schools, regular high schools, 12-year schools, adult high schools; general education) and secondary vocational/technical/normal schooling (regular specialized secondary schools, adult specialized secondary schools, vocational high schools, skilled workers schools, other institutions; vocational and professional education). Students in the former track are mainly educated for the subsequent enrolment into higher education. They need to take 3 mandatory exam-oriented courses (i.e. mathematics, Chinese literacy and literature, foreign language), 5 mandatory non-exam-oriented courses (i.e. physical education, music, fine arts, information technology, general technology), and selective exam-oriented courses (i.e. social sciences: politics, history, geography; natural sciences: chemistry, physics, biology). In addition to the three mandatory exam-oriented subjects, students are given full autonomy to choose another three subjects from the above two orientation pools as the subjects they will be assessed on during the National Higher Education Entrance Examination (Gaokao). Nevertheless, certain majors at top-ranking Chinese universities do set specific constraints on the selection of Gaokao subjects during enrolment. In 2020, there are 14,297 senior high school nationwide (58.7% of all senior secondary education), with 8,764,400 newly-enrolled students (58.3%), 24,944,500 current students (60.4%), and 1,933,200 full-time teachers.
Students in the latter track are trained to acquire vocational knowledge, skills, and professional ethics necessary for engaging in a certain occupation or productive labor work. Their curriculum consists of seven public basis subjects (i.e. Chinese literacy and literature, mathematics, foreign language, basic computer application, physical education, mental health, moral education) and specialized professional courses (including professional theory and technical skills). So far, the shift between tracks lacks flexibility. In 2020, 10,078 secondary vocational schools nationwide (41.3% of all senior secondary education), with a total of 6,275,600 newly-enrolled students, 16,281,400 current students, and 849,500 full-time teachers in secondary vocational schools. The state has attached greater importance to vocational education in recent years, and has successively issued the “Decision of the State Council on Accelerating the Development of Modern Vocational Education” and “National Vocational Education Reform Implementation Plan”.
Higher education
Higher education in China includes state/province/city-run institutions providing degree and postgraduate programs (e.g., regular HEIs/universities, independent research institutes), those provides vocational education (e.g. applied/vocational colleges, adult colleges), and non-government HEIs. The second half of the 20th century was a stage of immature expansion and qualitative change of Chinese higher education. The rapid growth of the society’s demand for specialized talents and the need for individuals to receive higher education has prompted Chinese higher education from elite education to mass education. In 2020, there are 2,738 regular colleges and universities nationwide. Among them, there are 1,270 undergraduate colleges (including 21 undergraduate-level vocational schools), 1,468 higher vocational colleges. The total enrolment of various forms of higher education is 41.83 million, and the gross enrolment rate of higher education is 54.4%. There are 1.83 million full-time teachers in regular colleges and universities across the country.
Source: Jiang (2017)
Current trends in educational policy and practice (e.g. relevant curricular reform cycles) & regional differences
The General Office of the State Council recently issued the “Notice on the Implementation of the National Education System Reform Pilot Program.” A batch of education reform projects with clear reform objectives and specific policies and measures have completed the filing procedures, marking the full launch of the national education system reform pilot work. This special reform includes 10 major pilot tasks: (1) to accelerate the development of pre-school education, (2) to promote the balanced development of compulsory education, (3) to explore ways to reduce the burden of schoolwork on primary and secondary school students, (4) to reform the talent training models in higher education, (5) to reform the school-running model of colleges and universities, (6) to build a modern university system, (7) to reform the school-running models of vocational education, (8) to improve the development environment of private education, (9) to improve the teacher management system, and (10) to improve the educational investment mechanism. Three of them are about general education, three about higher education, and four on vocational/private education and education management.
Compulsory education
As noted in Compulsory Education Law, the 9-year compulsory education “implements the national education policy and strives to improve the quality of the whole nation”. Its object and focus are all people, not some or a few people, and it emphasizes the cultivation of basic qualities, not the cultivation of professions or certain specialized talents. For this purpose, an education reform is being implemented since 2014 to gradually replace the screening examination with “division/nearby enrollment” / “roll of a dice enrollment” (i.e. county-level education administrative departments either allocates students residing in specific communities to nearby primary schools and the counterpart junior high schools or randomly locate students to regional schools by using the “fair banding” lottery system).
In addition, the transition from “examination-oriented education” to “quality education” is also being implemented. It mainly aims at cultivating children’s creativity, meta-cognitive skills, social morality, appreciation for aesthetics, lifelong learning, and labouring, as well as developing a comprehensive philosophy of the world and human life. Specifically, schools of all levels and types put great emphasis on promoting moral education under the guidance of Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, and the important thoughts of the Three Represents. Education in patriotism, collectivism, and socialism is carried out in a targeted manner, along with the education of the excellent cultural and revolutionary traditions of the Chinese nation, of modern Chinese history and basic national conditions, and of domestic and foreign democracy and legal systems.
Senior secondary education
The “Decision on the Reform of the Education System” promulgated in 1985 proposed a policy of “adjusting the structure of secondary education”, that is, expanding the proportion of vocational education in secondary education levels and reducing the number of general education. The country hoped to ease the pressure of entering higher education through the diversion of students. Since the export of vocational education is direct employment, general and vocational secondary education have evolved into a “dual track system” of advancement education and employment education. Such a reform had some practical effects. However, with the popularization of China’s 9-year compulsory education and the increase in the total number of people in secondary education, the competition within general education has become more intense. Therefore, in 1999, the strategic decision of “largely expanding enrollment in colleges and universities” was made and implemented.
During the expansion, new challenges occurred. To ensure and promote educational equity, “Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Several Major Issues of Comprehensively Deepening Reform” was made in 2014 to explore (1) the relative separation of enrollment and examination, (2) multiple selections of student examinations, (3) autonomous enrollment of schools in accordance with the law and government’s macro management, and (4) social participation and supervision, so as to fundamentally solve the shortcomings of a determining-lifelong exam. In 2019, 8 provinces or cities (including Hebei, Liaoning, Jiangsu, Fujian, Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong, and Chongqing) trialed the new model of “3+1+2” college entrance examination. In 2020, the new national college enrollment system is generally established. The old “one of a lifetime” exam as the only enrollment criteria is being replaced by the comprehensive evaluation and multiple admission mechanism based on both Gaokao and high school-level academic proficiency tests. Additionally, the number of Gaokao subjects are reduced and the orientation constraint is removed. Students are no longer forced to choose subjects from only one orientation (science or arts) in Gaokao. Exams on foreign languages become socialized and can be taken multiple times a year (with the highest score recorded).
Higher education
In recent year, to promote education equity and inclusiveness, the quality-based categorization of higher institutes (1st/2nd/3rd level) is gradually replaced by “key undergraduate universities” (“world-class universities and first-class disciplines”) and “general undergraduate universities”. No quality difference is expected between the two groups. The former focus on theoretical research, while the latter focus on implementing theories into practice. Besides, the government is also vigorously develop higher vocational education to cultivate a large number of technical application talents with certain theoretical knowledge and strong practical ability. Great efforts are being made to (1) infiltrate higher vocational education with general education and entrepreneurial education, (2) organically combine pre-employment and post-employment education in the vocational education system to create a complete continuum of lifelong education, and (3) strengthen the international cooperation and openness. In addition, trial transfer of credits among regular universities, colleges, vocational colleges, and adult colleges is promoted to broaden life-long learning channels.
Despite the general improvement of the educational system in China, deep rooted regional difference remains to be one of its major characteristics, as reflected in Figure 3. This is mainly the results of (1) the large population and rapidly expanding of student population duing all stages of education and (2) China’s previous decision to allocate education spending according to excellence and to develop a certain group of institutions as world class within a short period of time. Although the education reforms implemented in the past decades have largely improved education equity across the country, regional differences of general and higher educational institutions still exist due to the gap of financial support and teaching supplies, particularly between rural and urban areas as well as between the western and eastern (coastal) regions. The COVID-19 pandemic may also increase China’s rural-urban education gap. Only 50% of students in rural regions have undisrupted access to online classes, with one-third of those students being completely cut off from learning. On the other hand, only 5.7% of urban students have zero access. The issue stems from households lacking computers and strong internet connections — a problem that hits rural children the hardest. For example, 40% of students in urban regions own a computer, compared to only 7.3% of students in villages.
Source: Xiang et al.(2020)
Current international examinations (PISA, TIMSS)
Chinese school students from Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang reached the highest scores in the 2018 PISA assessment, and more and more Chinese universities enter global rankings for the best universities in the world. However, considerable disparities exist between elite institutions in the urban centers and the average schools in the countryside.
Only Shanghai was selected as the representative of China in PISA 2009 and 2012, which ranked at the top in all three tested domains. In 2015, students from Shanghai and three more regions (i.e. Beijing, Jiangsu, and Guangzhou), all together called B-S-J-G, China, were measured and ranked the tenth. In PISA 2018, Chinese students regained No.1 after Guangdong province was replaced by Zhejiang. As illustrated in Figure 1, B-S-J-Z students performed significantly better than the average of OECD in all three subjects. About 49% are among the top performers in at least one subject, compared to the OECD average of 16%. And only 2% to 5% Chinese students fell into the group of low achievers compared to the OECD average of 24%.
Source: PISA (2018)
Although Chinese students from the representative regions were found to outperform those in other countries in the PISA 2018, it is questioned whether such a result can be generalized into the whole student population in China. B-S-J-G cities/provinces are all from the eastern coastal regions with advantageous financial and educational resources. Given that students’ socioeconomic background is closely associated with their academic performance (PISA, 2018), PISA-2018 results are very likely to overestimate the academic excellency of the general student population in China. Furthermore, as shown in Figure 2, despite the excellence of B-S-J-G students, their learning productivity is relatively low, ranked at the 14th from the bottom. And the comparatively heavier academic burden seems to lower their satisfaction for life, making their perceived life satisfaction the 8th from the bottom of the list.
Source: PISA (2018)