38863 EFA and Beyond: Service Provision and Quality Assurance in China China is not often thought of in the EFA context but its education sector over the past 20 years provides many lessons for countries that are approaching Universal Primary Education (UPE). The most important lesson may be that the need for educational reform does not diminish as countries approach UPE. The first challenge is to expand education opportunities. As coverage expands, however, new challenges inevitably emerge that require constant attention and frequent updates to education policy and financing mechanisms. July 2005 In the 1980s, although primary school and renovation. The central special funds are enrollment reached over 95 percent nationwide, UPE matched by local government co-financing. continued to be an important issue. Of the roughly 180 million students enrolled in primary and middle These policies led to an increase in primary education schools, millions of children from rural areas, ethnic (Grade 1-6), a huge expansion of middle school minority groups, girls and the poor remained out education (Grades 7-9) and a significant expansion of of school. In 1985, China launched a major decentral- high school education (Grades 10-12). ization reform to improve local involvement in management and funding for basic education. Under The success in expanding middle school education this reform, primary and middle schools in urban can also be attributed to policies that abolished the areas were placed under the management of district middle school entrance examination, sought to education offices, while schools in rural areas were increase equity in funding, adopted a computer-based placed under management at the county level. lottery to assign primary graduates to middle schools and provided for schools within easy walking distance A series of policies to improve the expansion of com- of where children live. Many challenges remain, pulsory education in China accompanied the reform, however, centered largely on issues of finance, equity including: and quality. 1. Establishing education legislation to ensure Financing of compulsory education. Education in enrollment. In 1986, the Chinese Government China has been largely a public school phenomenon. promulgated the Compulsory Education Law (CEL) According to official statistics, public schools account establishing rights and obligations of individuals for 98%, 97% and 94% of students at the primary, and governments. The CEL had two implications middle and high school levels, respectively. However, for compulsory education: (i) all children reaching public spending on education is inadequate. Limited age six were required to enroll in school and receive public funding has led to a shift of fiscal responsibilities nine years of compulsory education (six years of to principals and then to parents. Principals report primary and three years of lower secondary); and (ii) local authorities were responsible for compulsory education, including operating funds, construction Graph 1: Enrollment of Basic Education in China (1990-2002) and teachers' salaries. 100% 2. Mobilizing resources in rural areas. In the early 1990s, as the income of farmers in wealthy 80% areas increased rapidly, the central government introduced a two percent education tax in rural areas. The introduction of this tax together with 60% other types of contributions from parents amounted to US$12.5 billion, which was added to 40% the budgetary resources from the government for development of nine-year compulsory education. 20% 3. Increasing the central government expendi- 0 Primary Middle School High School ture for rural education. Since the mid-1990s, the government's spending on basic education 1990 1996 2002 increased in both budgetary expenditures and in special funds for rural areas. The national govern- Source: National Center for Education Development and Research (Ed., 2003). 2003 Green Paper on Education in China: ment allocates annually about US$1.25 billion to Annual Report on Policies of China's Education. Educational Science Publishing House. P. 26-27. Beijing, China. rural areas for teachers' salaries, school construction that 25-50 percent of operational expenses are raised Inequality in access to education is related to poverty, at the school level. According to official data, budgeted geography, gender, socioeconomic background and funding in education as a percentage of GDP was ethnicity. In several provinces, particularly those 2.5 in 1993 and increased to 3.2 in 2001. During the economically less developed provinces, studies show same period, however, out-of-budget funding, including that there is variation in the gender gap in enrollment. contributions from parents and society, increased In some poor areas, approximately half of the counties significantly from 0.55 percent of GDP to 1.65 percent do not achieve nine year compulsory education and in 2001. Since the 1990s, special funds from central there are substantial ethnic differences in enrollment government have been allocated to western provinces among primary and middle school age children, with and poor areas, but inadequate funds remain a major the rate for boys sometimes as high as double those obstacle for compulsory education. for girls from certain ethnic groups. In urban areas, good quality schools, known as key Moreover, inequality in access became a concern in big schools, manage to generate funds by recruiting stu- cities in the mid-1990s when the migrant student issue dents from outside school districts and charging fees emerged. In 2003, there were an estimated 114 million for their attendance. Although charging fees for com- rural dwellers working in urban areas nationwide. pulsory education is forbidden by national law, they In Xiaoshan District of Hanzhou Municipality (Zhejiang are often disguised as "education donation and assis- Province), migrant workers account for one third of tance" or "joint construction fees." The "donations" the entire population. The number of migrant students range from 30,000 to 100,000 yuan (8.27 yuan = country-wide is estimated at 11 million. The increased 1US$) for each student for the duration of the middle number of migrant students imposes a challenge to school years. In rural areas, however, most public the "local responsibility" principle in education. Is the schools have neither the demand nor the reputation responsibility for the children of migrant workers that to generate additional funds and as a consequence, of the local government in areas where they are from there is a huge disparity in student expenditures or that of the government where they reside and pay between urban and rural areas and between taxes? Provision for this group depends on decisions of provinces. In 2001, per student expenditure in local governments. In Shanghai Municipality, migrant Guizhou, an economically disadvantaged province, students are accepted by public schools. In Xiaoshan varied from 887 yuan for urban areas to 485 yuan in District, Zhejiang Province, half of the migrant students rural areas. In Shanghai, an economically developed are accepted by local public schools, but others must region, per student expenditure in urban areas was seek out private schooling (min-ban, or people-run) 5,886 yuan and rural per student expenditure was where they must pay "borrowing education fees". Many 3,605 yuan. of these schools are newly built and illegal because their conditions and facilities do not meet the standards Equity. There is an increasing debate regarding the for a school set forth by the government. In addition, equity and fairness of compulsory education in terms a large number of migrant children are out of school of quality and access. Key schools that are able to due to the transient nature of their parents' work. attract good students and to charge fees are also Currently, the Government is revising the Compulsory able to attract good teachers by paying them more Education Law, trying to align policies to changes in bonuses. In rural areas, teachers are paid much less society and the education sector. than their urban counterparts. In Guizhou Province, teachers receive only the basic salary, which is 700 Quality control of teaching and learning. China yuan a month. In an urban school in Zhejiang has a long tradition of using teaching research systems province, the average teacher's salary plus bonus is as a quality control mechanism. The system includes 2,500 yuan per month. These differences contribute "teaching research groups," where teachers teaching to a massive flow of competent teachers from rural the same subject meet weekly to prepare lessons to urban schools, resulting in a severe shortage of with "open lessons" held for peer review to identify teachers and a high student drop out rate in rural problems. In addition, principals observe teachers' and poor areas. classes, identify problems and provide guidance. Finally, the district teaching research office (TRO), which education, there is a growing recognition that control consists of subject area experts, "diagnose" teaching of inputs such as resources, teachers, curriculum, problems, providing guidance in teaching content and school programs, facilities and equipment are inade- methods. When schools encounter unresolved issues quate indicators for measuring outcomes. This involves in teaching, they turn to the district TRO for help. a change of the function of the Ministry of Education and local education bureaus. This quality control mechanism has faced a challenge since the new curriculum was introduced in 1999. The curriculum introduces new standards for 18 subject Conclusion areas for compulsory education emphasizing the neces- sity for change in curriculum to respond to the rapid The China experience indicates that when UPE has change in technology and knowledge-based economy. reached a higher level, the focus shifts to reaching Students are expected to focus on problem solving and marginal groups and to issues of equity, quality and ability to learn and to act innovatively and creatively. finance. Disparities among children from poor and This is a significant challenge for teachers who are wealthier families and children from urban and rural accustomed to 'teaching to tests.' This means that TRO families require increased attention, even as govern- members have to update their knowledge and teaching ments seek to maintain and stabilize enrollment methods and then train teachers in response to the increases at the primary level. China's experience with requirement laid out by the new curriculum. migrant students illustrates the importance of constant fine-tuning and adjustment to education policy and To ensure high quality education, China is also facing financing. In China, as in other developing economies, the task of developing a national assessment system. attainment of UPE will be one step in what must be As global trends shift the focus toward outcome-based an ongoing process of education reform. This note series is intended to summarize lessons learned and key policy findings on the World Bank's work in education. The views expressed in these notes are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the World Bank. For additional copies of Education Notes, please contact the Education Advisory Service by email at eservice@worldbank.org or visit the web site: http://www.worldbank.org/education/ Contributing Author: Yidan Wang Photographer: Changchun Education Bureau, China (2005)