Transcript Education in the People's Republic of China

Education in the People's
Republic of China
Mustafa Ergün
History of China
Dynasties: Ancient China was governed by a ruling class of warrior nobles
headed by a king. Ruling families are referred to as dynasties. The Shang
Dynasty (1766 BC) was the first verifiable dynasty and ruled China for 600
years. The Shang dynasty was overthrown by Zhou who established a
dynasty and introduced the idea of the Mandate of Heaven.
The Han dynasty centralized the Chinese government and established a
bureaucracy which included eighteen different ranks of civil service jobs
that civilians obtained by taking competitive examinations.
1911-1949 The Republic of China was established under the leadership of
Sun Yat-sen
1949- The Republic of China moved to the island of Taiwan
1949 –The People’s Republic of China came to power under the
Communist leader Mao Zedong.
China: Philosophy and Religion
Analects
Confucius was addressed as The Master
all over China. His teachings were based
on virtue and goodness. Confucius
believed that the past tells us how to live in
the present. His sayings were recorded in
a book called The Analects.
Other Chinese philosophies
include Taoism ( Daoism)
and Legalism
Buddhism spread
to China from India.
’One day a teacher, father the
whole life’
温故而知新
One knows more by reviewing
the past !
China: Development of Writing
The earliest examples of Chinese writing are found on
oracle bones. Shang dynasty rulers consulted the gods
through the use of oracle bones, animal bones and tortoise
shells on which priests scratched questions for the gods.
The priest applied a hot poker to the bones which cracked
and then interpreted the cracks to see how the gods
answered the question.
The Chinese writing system is not alphabetic like
English. It used symbols for words called
characters. Each character stands for an idea, not a
sound. The characters are read vertically in columns
(down and up). The written language is not linked to the
spoken language, so people all over China could learn
the same system of writing, even if they spoke different
languages.
The Republic (1911-1949)
1. New national curriculum: to produce citizens of
a republic, not subjects of an emperor;
2. Traditional curriculum abolished;
3. Confucianism no longer taught;
4. Junior, senior middle schools and universities
appeared
5. FL (EL the most important) was compulsory;
From 1949 to the Present
1. This period (1949-1966)
witnessed
Primacy: English to Russian, and back
to English;
2. The Great Cultural Revolution
(1966-1976):
3. The period 1978 up to the
present:
English as the primary FL well
established;
This reflects the impact the political
atmosphere has on FL in China.
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution was a period of widespread social
and political upheaval in the People’s Republic of China between 1966 and
1976, resulting in nation-wide chaos and economic disarray.
It was launched by Mao Zedong on May 16, 1966; he alleged that "liberal
bourgeois" elements were permeating the party and society at large and that
they wanted to restore Capitalism. He insisted that these elements be removed
through pre-revolutionary class struggle by mobilizing the thoughts and actions
of China’s youth, who formed Red Guards groups around the country. The
movement subsequently spread into the military, urban workers, and the party
leadership itself.
One of the main focuses of the Cultural
Revolution was the abolishment of the Four
Olds: Old Customs, Old Culture, Old Habits,
and Old Ideas.
Compulsory Education Law
The Law on Nine-Year Compulsory
Education, which took effect July 1, 1986,
established requirements and deadlines for
attaining universal education tailored to
local conditions and guaranteed school-age
children the right to receive education.
The compulsory education law divided China into three categories: cities and
economically developed areas in coastal provinces and a small number of
developed areas in the hinterland; towns and villages with medium
development; and economically backward areas.
Basic Education in China
 95% of total population receives 9 year
compulsory education.
 High school education grows up quickly.
 Curriculum reforms are undergoing pretty
well.
 Teachers are respected.
 A series of educational laws promulgated
and revised.
China's basic education involves pre-school,
nine-year compulsory education from elementary
to junior high school, standard senior high school
education, special education for disabled
children, and education for illiterate people.
Children usually entered primary school at seven
years of age for six days a week, which after
regulatory changes in 1995 and 1997 were
changed to five and a half and five days,
respectively. The two-semester school year
consisted of 9.5 months, and began on
September 1 and March 1, with a summer
vacation in July and August and a winter vacation
in January and February.
"Key schools," shut down during the Cultural
Revolution, reappeared in the late 1970s and, in
the early 1980s, became an integral part of the
effort to revive the lapsed education system.
They also were allowed to recruit the best
students for special training to compete for
admission to top schools at the next level.
Examination-driven
 Although innovations are undergoing with
entrance examinations into higher education
institutions.
 Examination related subjects emphasized.
 Too much learning burden is faced up with
students.
Through introduction of computer labs, satellite
reception devices, CD-ROM playing devices, and VCD
and DVD materials, quality educational resources will
reach rural schools in remote and poor areas.
Secondary education in China has a complicated
history. In the early 1960s, education planners followed a policy
called "walking on two legs," which established both regular
academic schools and separate technical schools for vocational
training.
In the late 1970s, government and party representatives criticized
what they termed the "unitary" approach of the 1960s, arguing that it
ignored the need for two kinds of graduates: those with an academic
education (college preparatory) and those with specialized technical
education (vocational).
Chinese secondary schools are called middle schools and are
divided into junior and senior levels.
Vocational and technical schools
The "Law on Vocational Education" was issued in 1996. Vocational
education embraces higher vocational schools, secondary skill
schools, vestibule schools, vocational high schools, job-finding
centers and other adult skill and social training institutes.
Under the educational reform tenets, polytechnic colleges were to
give priority to admitting secondary vocational and technical school
graduates and providing on-the-job training for qualified workers.
Technical schools had several hundred different programs.
Roots of Chinese Higher Education
• By the 18th century, China had perfected one of the world’s most durable
political systems during 2000 years of its imperial history and had developed
a unique civilization that had deeply influenced the culture of its neighboring
countries.
• China’s higher education had evolved according to its own logic and never
deviated from its developmental path, despite external influences.
Over a long historical process, a unique set of scholarly values arose in
China. There was no institution in Chinese tradition that could be called a
university. Instead, the imperial examination system and the academies (書院)
were key elements of ancient Chinese higher learning.
• University reforms in China are a combination of externally imposed
standards that force China to adopt international (usually Western, and often
American) modes of education and administration, with voluntary and often
enthusiastic acceptance of foreign standards of academic excellence.
Overview of China’s Formal Education
Total Enrollments (225
Total Enrollments(197 m)
High(14.2m)
High2.2m)
Middle
(52.4m)
Primary
(122.4m)
1990
Data: China National Statistics
Middle School
(98.6m)
Primary
(112.5m)
2004
m)
Higher education in China
By the end of 2004, China had 2,236 schools of Higher Learning, with over 20
million students; the gross rate of enrollment in schools of higher learning
reached 19 percent.
Between 1999 and 2003, enrollment in higher education increased from 1.6
million to 3.82 million. In 2004, the total enrollment in ordinary schools of
higher learning was 4.473 million, 651,000 more than in 2003. Schools of
higher learning and research institutes enrolled 326,000 postgraduate
students, 57,000 more than the previous year.
1978
1980
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2015
2020
Total Enrollments of Regular HEIs
In 2020 (in million)
51
48
45
42
39
36
33
30
27
24
21
18
15
12
9
6
3
0
Rapid Growth of Undergraduate Enrolment
 Chinese higher education has experienced rapid developments since 1978,
particularly in the past 10 years.
 China now has 1,700 universities and colleges, about 40% of them have the
power of awarding bachelor degrees.
 The total number of undergraduate admission in 2005 was about 5 million,
more than four times that in 1998.
 The total number of undergraduate enrolment in 2005 was more than 20
million, with a gross enrolment ratio of about 21% of the same age population.
Private Higher Education
 The first private (MinBan) college of modern China was founded in 1982.
 The number of private universities and colleges is now about 500.
 The number of students enrolled in private higher education institutions
reached 1.4 million in 2005.
 Almost all of the private universities and colleges focus on undergraduate
education.
 The quality of private higher education needs improvement.
6.00%
Private education
funding as share of
GDP
4.00%
3.00%
Public education
funding as share of
GDP
2.00%
1.00%
0.00%
19
8
19 0
8
19 2
8
19 4
8
19 6
8
19 8
9
19 0
9
19 2
9
19 4
9
19 6
9
20 8
0
20 0
0
20 2
04
Share of GDP
5.00%
Year
In 1985, the government designated September 10 as
Teachers' Day, the first festival day for any
profession and indicative of government efforts to raise
the social status and living standards of teachers.
谢 谢
Thank you