Chinese Government response to educational inequality
The Chinese education system is the largest state-run education system in the world. Its quality has improved considerably over the last decades due to continuous reforms and large-scale investments.
However, considerable disparities exist between elite institutions in the urban centres and the average schools in the country.
The illiteracy rate in China has dropped from 22.81% in 1982 to 2.67% in 2020. However, the 2020 illiteracy rate is significantly higher in some western provinces:
- 7.94% in Qinghai
- 6.72% in Gansu
- 6.68% in Guizhou
In 2019, China released its Education Modernization 2035 plan. This aims to create a modern education system that serves the whole of society, covering pre-school and compulsory education hrough to higher and vocational education. It also aims to improved education for individuals with disabilities.
According to the Ministry of Education, in 2022, public spending on education reached 3.95 trillion yuan. (Source: Ministry of Education,The People's Republic of China)
Chinese Government response to educaton inquality between urban and rural areas
In China, local governments are responsible for educational budgets. In rural areas there are often funding issues. Schools in rural areas can lack basic resources and can only provide teachers with low salaries. As a result, rural schools can often only attract inexperienced teachers, and staff are less likely to remain in the same job for long. This puts children in rural areas at an educational disadvantage. It also leaves them less prepared to sit the exams needed to move into higher levels of education.
Family income
Lack of money means that families have to pay for further schooling, which they may not be able to afford. Children of poorer families are more likely to drop out to take on unskilled work that will bring in money for their family. But this means they do not gain a level of education that would bring longer term benefits such as higher wages.
'Left behind' children
The hukou system means children whose parents move to urban areas for work without a permit are not able to receive an education in the city. Often parents move without their children. They can support their family financially but they are not there to support their children with their schooling. ‘Left behind’ children are more likely to drop out of school and receive a high level of education.
Private education reform
In 2021, the Chinese government banned private after-school tutoring. The move was seen as an attempt to ease the financial pressures of raising children, after China posted a record low birth rate. It could also address inequality in education as private tuition gave children in more affluent families an advantage.
The ban has resulted in the fast growth of underground online tutoring, as parents have sought out additional help for their children. In families it has led to an increase in stress, workload and financial burdens. (Source: Asia Global Institute)
In September 2023, the Education Ministry attempted to crack down on underground tutoring by introducing penalties of up to 100,000 yuan ($13,715.54) for unlicenced tutoring companies.
Chinese Government response to educational inquality between boys and girls
The Chinese Government has treated gender equality in education as a priority and many statistics suggest that this has been effective:
- In 2021 the overall literacy rate was 99.85%. For girls it was 99.83%
- Since 2000, girls have made up more than 46% of primary school students
- By 2020, girls made up 50.4% of middle school students
- In 2015, women made up more than 52% of places in higher education
Despite this, there are signs that educational inequality between the sexes. The main factors for the difference are household registration, year of birth, ethnic group, education level of the father, and region.
Spring Bud project
One way the Chinese Government has tackled educational inequality between the sexes is through the China Children and Teenagers' Fund (CCTF). SInce 1989, the CCTF's 'Spring Bud' project has promoted education for girls:
- it provides subsidies to support girls from low-income families from primary school through to higher education
- it runs programmes of advocacy and awareness-raising
- it supports girls to build skills such as digital skills
By the end of 2022, the project covered 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, and supported over four million girls from over 56 ethnic groups.
There is still a gap in women's education between urban and rural areas, and between the east and west of the country, but it is narrowing.
A 2020 survey shows the average years of schooling for rural women from Western China, has risen in ten years by 2.04 year to is 7.44 years. The gap between eastern and western rural women decreased from 0.90 in 2010 to 0.61 in 2020 (Office of the Fourth Survey on Social Status of Women in China, 2021).
