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Reform
and Development
Shortly after the founding of
the PRC, the Chinese government took education as a matter of primary
importance, and made enhancing the cultural quality of the people
the basis of the construction of the nation. Before 1949, China
had a population of nearly 500 million, of whom 80 percent were
illiterate. Proceeding from reforming the educational system, the
Chinese government made an overall plan and adjusted its educational
policies, with the result that the number of students increased
rapidly. Currently, 91 percent of the country has instituted compulsory
primary education, nearly 99 percent of school-age children are
enrolled in schools, the dropout rate has decreased and the illiteracy
rate of young and middle-aged people has declined to less than seven
percent. Since the initiation of the reform and opening policies
in 1978, marked by the restoration of the higher-education examination
system, China??s education got on the road to accelerated development.
As one of the priorities of China??s economic and social development,
education is a matter of great concern to the government. The decisive
guiding principle that ??Education should be geared to the needs
of modernization, of the world and of the future?? (Message written
for Jingshan School by Deng Xiaoping on October 1, 1983) has promoted
the speedy development of China??s educational undertakings.
China has attained considerable
achievements attracting worldwide attention in education. According
to the latest statistics, by the end of 1998 there were 1,022 universities
and colleges in China, with 3.41 million students, of which 1.08
million were the year??s new recruits; 736 graduate training units
with 199,000 students, of which 73,000 were the year??s new recruits;
962 adult higher-learning institutions with 2.82 million students,
of which one million were the year??s new recruits; 13,948 ordinary
high schools, with a total of 9.38 million students; 17,106 secondary
special and technical schools and vocational high schools, with
11.26 million students (of which, 1.73 million were technical school
students), accounting for 55 percent of the total students in high
schools. And there were 54.5 million junior middle school students
nationwide, with an enrollment rate of 87.3 percent; 139.54 million
primary school pupils, with 98.9 percent of the school-age children
enrolled. The dropout rates of the students of ordinary junior middle
schools and primary schools were 3.23 percent and 0.93 percent,
respectively. There were 2.51 million people studying in vocational
secondary schools for adults; 86.82 million persons trained in adult
technical training schools; and 3.21 million illiterate people became
literate.
The cross-century period
is an important phase in China??s economic and social development.
Giving priority to the development of education is the basis of the
two major national strategies of improving the quality of the people
and rejuvenating the nation by relying on science and education and
realizing sustained development. As human society enters the knowledge
and information age, education is expected to play an increasingly
important role. |
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Development
of Schools at All Levels and in Various Forms
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Year
|
Institutions
of higher learning
|
Middle
schools
|
Primary
schools
|
|
Number
of institutions
|
Student
body
(100,000)
|
Full-time
teachers (100,000)
|
Number
of schools
|
Student
body (100,000)
|
Full-time
teachers (100,000)
|
Number
of schools
|
Student
body (100,000)
|
Full-time
teachers (100,000)
|
|
1949
|
205
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1.17
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0.16
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5,216
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12.68
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8.3
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346.769
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243.91
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8.36
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1978
|
598
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8.56
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2.06
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165,105
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663.72
|
328.1
|
949,323
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1,462.40
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52.26
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1985
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1,016
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17.03
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3.44
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104,848
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509.26
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296.7
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832,309
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1,337.02
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53.77
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1990
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1,075
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20.63
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3.95
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100,777
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510.54
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349.2
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766,072
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1,224.14
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55.82
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1997
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1,020
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31.74
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4.04
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78,642
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601.79
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358.7
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628,840
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1,399.54
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57.94
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