By the end of the twentieth century, Chinafinished the historic task of achieving popularization of nine-year compulsory education and basically eliminating illit- eracy among young and middle-aged people (called“Two Basics”for short). The national per capita years of schooling has reached 8 years, exceeding the worldwide average. By 2006, the number of counties that have realized Two Basics reached 2973, an increase from 2573 in 2001, accounting for 96 % of counties in China.
The population coverage of Two Basics reached 98 %. From 2001 to 2006, 11.363 million young and middle-aged illiterates have been removed from the illiteracy and the illiteracy of young and middle-aged people has decreased to 3.58 %.
In 2006, there were a total of 341,600 primary schools in China, with a total admission of 17.2936 million and a major increase in rural areas. The total number of enrollments for primary school was 107.1153 million. The net enrollment ratio of primary school-age children has reached 99.27 %, (99.25 % of boys and 99.29 % of girls). The number of primary school graduates reached 19.2848 million.
Also in 2006, there were 60,885 junior secondary schools (including 335 vocational schools) in total, with admission of 19,295,600 students, enrollment of 59,579,500 students, and 20,715,800 graduates. The gross enrollment ratio for junior secondary education was 97 %, up 2 % from the previous year. The pro- motion rate of junior secondary school graduates was 75.7 %, up 6 % from the previous year.
Efforts have been made in a variety of forms in rural and poor areas to eradicate illiteracy as an important measure against poverty, especially in groups of young and middle-aged adults, women, and people of minority ethnicities. From 1994 to 2009, 94 million people in China have become literate, which is a great contribution to the decrease of illiteracy worldwide.
With regard to faculty, the ratio of qualified full-time teachers in primary and junior secondary schools has been increasing. In 2006, there were 6.12 million teaching staff in primary schools in China, among which 5.5876 million were full-time teachers. Full-time teachers acquiring qualification certifications in pri- mary schools accounted for 96.34 % of full-time teachers, up by 1.12 % from the previous year. The guarantee mechanism for teachers’salaries in rural primary and junior secondary schools has improved, which played an important role in keeping teaching staff.
Concerning the facilities, in 2003 the government began to allocate new edu- cationalfinancing into rural areas. As a result, school buildings and other physical facilities of primary and junior secondary schools have been obviously improved.
Distance education and information technology have been introduced into rural schools, making it possible for students of rural areas and remote areas to enjoy more and better educational resources.
In 2006, thefloor area per primary school student in China was 5.47 m2, up by 0.94 m2since the 4.53 m2of 2001. In 2006, thefloor area of teaching buildings per primary school student in rural China was 5.51 m2, up by 1.02 m2since the 4.49 m2 of 2001. In 2006, thefloor area of teaching buildings per junior secondary school student in China was 6.40 m2, up by 1.71 m2since the 4.69 m2of 2001. In 2006, the floor area of teaching buildings per junior secondary school student in rural China was 6.40 m2, up by 1.72 m2since the 4.68 m2of 2001.
In 2006, a total of 53.49 % of primary schools had stadiums (gymnasiums), 47.44 % had qualified sports facilities, 42.43 % had qualified numbers of musical instruments, 47.74 % had qualified art facilities and 52.75 % had qualified math- ematics and nature experiment equipment. In 2006, a total of 67.76 % of junior secondary schools had stadiums (gymnasiums), 64.74 % had a qualified number of sports facilities, 56.99 % had a qualified number of musical instruments, 55.59 % had art facilities, and 72.73 % had scientific and laboratory equipment. All indi- cators improved over the previous year.
1.1.2 Increase in Expenditure for Compulsory Education
With continuous economic development and an increase in the ratio offiscal rev- enue in GDP, governments have made more efforts infinancing education. The total expenditure in compulsory education in 1993 was 59.3 billion Yuan, which increased to 400 billion Yuan in 2006—a 5.75-fold increase. The total expenditures for rural compulsory education increased from 35.1 billion Yuan in 1993 to 217.7 billion Yuan in 2006—a 5.21-fold increase (see Fig.1.1). Fiscal appropriation for compulsory education increased 8.12-fold from 33.4 billion Yuan in 1993 to 304.3 billion Yuan in 2006, of which thefiscal appropriation for rural compulsory edu- cation increased 8.24-fold from 20.4 billion Yuan in 1993 to 188.1 billion Yuan in 2006 (see Fig.1.2). The growth infiscal appropriation for compulsory education,
Fig. 1.1 China compulsory education expenditures in total and in rural areas, 1993–2006 (Yuan, in 100 million)
especially for rural compulsory education, has exceeded the growth of total rev- enue. The growth of total fiscal appropriation enabled the proportion of fiscal appropriation to total revenue of compulsory education to increase year by year, from 56 % in 1993 to 76 % in 2006; the proportion offiscal appropriation for rural compulsory education in total revenue increased from 58 % in 1993 to 86 % in 2006 (see Fig.1.3). These data show that efforts made by governments for com- pulsory education, particularly for rural compulsory education, have been greater each year.
Along with steady growth in the total expenditures, meanwhile, expenditures per student and fiscal appropriation per student in compulsory education were also increasing annually (see Figs.1.4,1.5,1.6, and 1.7). The expenditures per junior secondary school student increased from 552 Yuan in 1993 to 2669 Yuan in 2006—a 3.83-fold increase. The expenditure per rural junior secondary school student rose Fig. 1.2 China compulsory educationfiscal appropriation in total and in rural areas, 1993–2006 (Yuan, in 100 million)
Fig. 1.3 Proportion of compulsory educationfiscal appropriation in total compulsory education revenue in China, 1993–2006 (%)
Fig. 1.4 Change in expenditure per student in junior secondary school in China, 1993–2006 (Yuan)
Fig. 1.5 Change in expenditure per student in primary school in China, 1993–2006 (Yuan)
Fig. 1.6 Change in fiscal appropriation per student in junior secondary school in China, 1993–2006 (Yuan)
from 473 Yuan in 1993 to 2190 Yuan in 2006—a 3.6-fold increase. The expenditure per primary school student increased from 278 Yuan in 1993 to 2122 Yuan in 2006—a 6.63-fold increase. The expenditure per rural primary school student rose from 250 Yuan in 1993 to 1847 Yuan in 2006—a 6.38-fold increase. Thefiscal appropriation per junior secondary school student increased from 332 Yuan in 1993 to 1963 Yuan in 2006—a 4.9-fold increase. Thefiscal appropriation per rural junior secondary school student rose from 275 Yuan in 1993 to 1764 Yuan in 2006—a 5.42-fold increase. The fiscal appropriation per primary school student increased from 168 Yuan in 1993 to 1672 Yuan in 2006—a 8.85-fold increase. Thefiscal appropriation per rural primary school student rose from 147 Yuan in 1993 to 1531 Yuan in 2006—a 9.4-fold increase.
These statistics demonstrate that expenditures on Chinese compulsory education, especially rural compulsory education, have been growing rapidly. Meanwhile, the proportion offiscal appropriation in total inputs has also been on the rise, repre- senting a change from“people’s educationfinanced by people”to“people’s edu- cationfinanced by government”.1