China strives for free compulsory education for all (2)

China strives for free compulsory education for all (2)

Yet 87 million people in China remain illiterate, 23 million of whom are youths and middle-aged individuals, according to the Ministry of Education's National Report on Education for All released in November 2005. About eight percent of the nation has not yet adopted the nine-year compulsory education system, and all of these areas are in the poorer and more remote western regions.

China's compulsory education consists of six years of primary school and three years of junior high school.

The dream of free compulsory education is far from being realized. Free education was first mandated in the 1986 Law on Compulsory Education for China's 289,000 primary schools and 4,266 junior high schools.

By 1998, it still was not free and the number of primary schools had doubled to handle 140 million students. The number of junior high schools had jumped 14-fold, handling 50 million students.

County and township governments continued to foot the education bill in China's vast rural areas. About 78 percent of education expenses were paid by township and county governments in 2002, according to a survey by the Development Research Center of the State Council. Funding from Beijing amounted to less than 2 percent. Poor rural governments passed on some of the expense to local farmers in "miscellaneous fees".

Of China's 193 million primary and high school students, 70 percent reside in rural areas. To educate a primary school student averages about 500 yuan (US $62.5) annually, according to an international analysis based on GDP and government spending on education. Each junior high school student needs 1,000 yuan (US $125).

To achieve the goal of a free education for these young people adds up to about 67.5 billion yuan (US $8.4 billion) per annum. China's 2 trillion yuan (US$ 250 billion) national tax revenue would suggest this figure is now very affordable, according to the Ministry of Finance.

A draft amendment to China's Law on Compulsory Education aiming to ensure stable funding for rural education was tabled to lawmakers at the annual National People's Congress session in March 2006. The amendment, which outlines the responsibilities of central and local governments in financing rural schools, is on the way to be finalized.

Shang Zhibo said he was happy to see his students'faces light up at the news of a free education. "To them, it is more than an exemption of 80 yuan (US$10). It brings them closer to the goal of a higher education and a more promising future," he said.

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Source: Xinhua