Federal

Trends in China: Schooling Shifting With Market Forces

By Sean Cavanagh — April 22, 2008 3 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

China’s education system has undergone significant changes over the past quarter-century, some brought into classrooms directly by government policy, others swept along by the rising tide of free-market reforms.

Many of the policies pushed by national leaders in recent years have focused on increasing access to education for students in impoverished rural areas, while also improving curriculum and building broader academic skills among older students.

Teaching and learning in China have long been shaped heavily by the country’s exam system, which determines admission to high schools and colleges in the nation of 1.3 billion.

Nation at Risk: 25 Years Later
America Scouts Overseas to Boost Education Skills
Researchers Gain Insight Into Education’s Impact on Nations’ Productivity
Catching Up on Algebra
Trends in China: Schooling Shifting With Market Forces
Trends in India: Expanding Middle Class Drives Private Schooling
Trends in the European Union: Education Seen Driving Prosperity
Trends in Japan: Japan Continues Search for Academic Triumph
COMMENTARY
E.D. Hirsch Jr.: An Epoch-Making Report, But What About the Early Grades?
Howard Gardner: E Pluribus...A Tale of Three Systems

But in recent years, the central government, which sets national education policy, has encouraged schools to emphasize applied skills and independent thinking, as opposed to simply exam-driven content—a difficult undertaking.

Many schools and colleges were closed during the Cultural Revolution. Following the death of Mao Zedong, the rise of reformist leader Deng Xiaoping sparked plans to rebuild and reorganize the education system.

Two of the most far-reaching changes were the establishment of nine years of compulsory education, and the re-establishment of a national college-entrance exam, said Jinfa Cai, a professor of mathematics and education at the University of Delaware. High school courses were tailored to meet exam content, he said; teachers were evaluated on students’ test performance.

Today, Chinese students attend schools with different academic demands. “Normal” schools offer a more standard curriculum, and more-elite “key” schools generally present a more demanding one. Students’ ability to gain access to more selective schools is often limited by economic circumstance, among other factors. Vocational education greatly increased in the 1980s, though the trend has been toward a general education in recent years, according to a 2008 study by the RAND Center for Asia Pacific Policy.

Education Highlights

Curriculum: Schools follow a curriculum established by the national government. A government agency, the People’s Education Press, has responsibility for curriculum and textbook development. The number of private or independent curriculum and textbook developers has grown in recent years, however. Most private schools follow the government curriculum, though some have adopted their own model, PEP officials have said.

Testing: Students take exams to gain admission to high school (grades 10-12) and college. Those exams, which shape curriculum and instruction, are especially important given the limited spaces in elite secondary schools and in China’s growing postsecondary market.

Spending: China’s spending on public education, as a proportion of its gross domestic product, is about 2 percent, roughly half that of India’s, according to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics. In recent years, much of the burden of financing education has shifted from the national level to state and local governments, which has resulted in higher enrollment fees, a 2008 report by the RAND Center for Asia Pacific Policy says.

Access: Education is compulsory in grades 1-9, although school access and quality vary significantly by region. Access tends to be greater in the cities and eastern provinces, though the millions of migrant families entering urban areas struggle to find services; some have turned to low-cost, often unregulated private schools as a result.

Another change, emerging in the late 1990s, was the government’s attempt to implement stronger curriculum guidelines at the high school level, Mr. Cai said. Those changes have placed a greater emphasis on critical thinking, applied skills, and more in-depth content in mathematics and other subjects, as well as the integration of technology into the curriculum, said the professor, who has studied math curriculum in China.

Other factors have the potential to diversify China’s curriculum further, said Jianjun Wang, a professor of education at California State University-Bakersfield. In a reflection of growing free-market influences, more independent publishers, such as universities, are developing classroom materials that were once crafted almost exclusively by the government, said Mr. Wang, a former Ministry of Education official.

While U.S. officials have cited the need to improve schools in response to foreign competition, Mr. Cai said, the motives of Chinese officials are different. There is a sense that good schools are needed for the nation “to be prosperous,” he said. “Education serves society. … [There’s] not so much talk of ‘global competitiveness.’ ”

Related Tags:

Special coverage marking the 25th anniversary of the landmark report A Nation at Risk is supported in part by a grant from the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation.
A version of this article appeared in the April 23, 2008 edition of Education Week as Schooling Shifting With Market Forces

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Assessment Webinar
Unlocking the Full Power of Fall MAP Growth Data
Maximize NWEA MAP Growth data this fall! Join our webinar to discover strategies for driving student growth and improving instruction.
Content provided by Otus
Classroom Technology K-12 Essentials Forum How to Teach Digital & Media Literacy in the Age of AI
Join this free event to dig into crucial questions about how to help students build a foundation of digital literacy.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Special Education Webinar
Taking Action: Three Keys to an Effective Multitiered System to Supports
Join renowned intervention experts, Dr. Luis Cruz and Mike Mattos for a webinar on the 3 essential steps to MTSS success.
Content provided by Solution Tree

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Federal Photos PHOTOS: Behind the Scenes at the Moms for Liberty National Summit
Former President Trump was a keynote the final night—and said little about schools.
1 min read
Moms for Liberty member Aura Moody dances with others at the annual Moms For Liberty Summit in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 30, 2024.
Moms for Liberty member Aura Moody dances with others at the conservative parents' rights organization's annual summit in Washington, on Friday, August 30, 2024.
Lawren Simmons for Education Week
Federal At Moms for Liberty National Summit, Trump Hardly Mentions Education
In a "fireside chat" with a co-founder of the parents' rights group, the former president didn't discuss his education policy priorities.
5 min read
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks with Moms for Liberty co-founder Tiffany Justice during an event at the group's annual convention in Washington, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024.
Former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, speaks with Tiffany Justice, a Moms for Liberty co-founder, during the group's national summit on Friday Aug. 30, 2024, in Washington. The former president spoke only briefly about issues directly related to education.
Mark Schiefelbein/AP
Federal Then & Now Why It's So Hard to Kill the Education Department—and Why Some Keep Trying
Project 2025 popularized plans to end the U.S. Department of Education, but the idea has been around since the agency's inception.
9 min read
President Ronald Reagan is flanked by Education Secretary Terrel Bell, left, during a meeting Feb. 23, 1984 meeting  in the Cabinet Room at the White House.
President Ronald Reagan is flanked by Education Secretary Terrel Bell, left, during a meeting Feb. 23, 1984 meeting in the Cabinet Room at the White House. Bell, who once testified in favor of creating the U.S. Department of Education, wrote the first plan to dismantle the agency.
Education Week with AP
Federal ‘Coaching and Politics’: What Coaches See in Tim Walz's VP Candidacy
Tim Walz's experience as a football coach is viewed by fellow coaches as good preparation for national politics.
7 min read
Benjamin C. Ingman, center, former student of Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, is joined on stage by former members of the Mankato West High School football team during the Democratic National Convention Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Chicago.
Benjamin C. Ingman, center, a former student of Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential candidate, is joined on stage by former members of the Mankato West High School football team during the Democratic National Convention Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Chicago.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP