Promoting social inclusion and equity in Chinese junior middle schools (chuzhong): An evaluation of current educational policy and practice in the People’s Republic of China

ABSTRACT: The paper is structured around four key themes. The first outlines the policy behind the nine-year compulsory education initiative (1986), including the drive to modernisation and economic development, and aspirations of ‘social equity’ and ‘serving the public good’. However, evidence suggests that the programme has failed in junior middle schools (chuzhong) in less developed regions, where many children drop out during the final three years of compulsory schooling. The second section examines the reasons for this failure, focusing on the unforeseen consequences of fiscal decentralisation and marketisation, the negative impact of a national curriculum, and difficulties with policy implementation at the school level. Reference is made to supporting empirical evidence drawn from two case study schools located in Guangxi Zhuang province. The third section examines what is currently being done to address the problem, both by government (with reference to the National New Curriculum and the waiving of school fees) and by individual schools. The final section considers what needs to be done above and beyond the current initiatives to ensure long-term success, especially in terms of: levels of investment in education; major revisions in curricular and teaching provision; the diverse needs of ethnic minority groups; special educational needs; and gender equality.

The paper provides an evaluation of the Chinese government’s nine-year compulsory education initiative as a contributing strategy to achieving equity and social inclusion. Evidence is drawn from various reports and government sources, along with empirical data collected from two junior middle schools¹ in Guangxi Zhuang province in China (Huang, 2004), one of the most ethno-linguistically diverse and yet least developed regions in southern China. The paper also suggests a number of future policy priorities on the basis of current evidence, while parallels with some major challenges facing educational policy makers in the West are considered by way of conclusion.

As part of a wider strategy of modernisation and economic development, in 1986 the Chinese government launched a major educational reform programme, including the implementation of nine years of compulsory education for all children: six years at the primary school (xiaoxue) from the ages of 6 to 12 and three at the junior middle school (chuzhong) from the ages of 12 to 15. However, selection thereafter for admission to the senior middle school (gaozhong) is extremely competitive. A further impetus to establishing universal basic education came with China’s commitment to both the Education for All (EFA) agenda initially agreed at the Jomtien Conference (1990) and the subsequent Framework for Action outlined at the Dakar Conference (2000). According to Li Lanqing, the former Vice Premier and education policy director (1993-2003), ‘ensuring social equity’ and serving ‘the public good’ through educational reform had to override economic considerations and remain an ‘essential feature of education’ (Li, L. 2004, pp.55-56).

However, a programme of decentralisation and market-oriented reform was implemented at the same time to address the weaknesses of an overly planned system (CCPCC, 1985). Subsequent legislation (CCPCC, 1993; SEC, 1993) reaffirmed this initial policy, especially in reducing the level of the state subsidy for education and encouraging a diversification in school funding through the operation of market forces. Arguably, fiscal decentralisation has been a ‘prime motive’ behind the reforms (Hawkins, 2000), private enterprise and market competition in the education sector being encouraged primarily as an instrument of economic transformation but within the regulatory framework of strong central government (Bray & Borevskaya, 2001).

Significant progress has been made in the provision of basic education. Ministry of Education statistics indicate that in 2002 the enrolment rate in primary schools was 98.58%; in junior middle schools 97.02%. However, these figures exclude school dropout rates. Official figures estimate the national average school dropout rate to be only 2.5%. However, this is likely to be a significant underestimate, as true figures can be difficult to ascertain. In the words of one teacher from a remote village in Jilin province:

There are also wide regional variations. In remote rural areas independent reports put the dropout rate closer to 30 or even 40% (China Labour Bulletin, 2007, pp.21-22; Li, J., 2004; Andreas, 2004, p.33). Many children are therefore failing to benefit from the compulsory education programme, thus undermining efforts to promote greater social inclusion and equity.

Four key factors can be identified:

1. Fiscal decentralisation

Fiscal decentralisation has resulted in both a shortage and an unequal distribution of funds. Rural areas account for about 60% of the Chinese population, but receive only about 23% of the education budget (Zhu et al, 2006, p.50). The problem is clearly reflected in levels of educational investment as a percentage share of GDP (Table 1).

The figures in Table 1 compare unfavourably with a global average of 5.1%, the Chinese government’s own target of 4% by the year 2000, and an optimal level of 6% recommended by the United Nations. With the reduced role of the state in providing educational subsidies, the poorer regions have been unable to make up the shortfall through local taxation (Zhu et al, 2006, p.50). In the rural province of Jiangxi, for example, only 2% of public spending on education came from central government, 20% from the combined contributions at the provincial and county levels, and a massive 78% from township sources (Murphy, 2007, p.76). Efforts to ease the onerous financial burden on farmers with the introduction of tax reforms in 2004 exacerbated problems related to local educational funding (Murphy, 2007, pp.80-81). Despite the government’s designation of regions as type-1 (economically developed), type-2 (semi-developed) and type-3 (undeveloped) for the purpose of targeting additional funding (Bi & Li, 1998), the gap between rich and poor has widened, not only between but within provinces, especially in the cities where opportunities for the ‘new middle class’ contrast sharply with the fortunes of marginalised migrant workers and their children (Lin, 2006). Both the quality and extent of provision vary significantly between schools administered at the county (xian), township (xiang) and rural village (cun) levels.

2. Market forces

Liberalisation and marketisation have witnessed a diversification of schooling with the emergence ‘non-state run’ schools (minban), governed by local communities, private individuals or organisations (Zhang, 2003; Yan & Lin, 2004), which have resulted in more competition and pressure on state schools (Kwong, 1997; Ng, 2001). As financial dependency on central government has diminished (China Labour Bulletin, 2007, p.26), schools have had to compete for resources through multiple channels of funding, including donations, student fees and the creation of income (chuangshou) from school-run enterprises (Kwong, 1996; Ng, 2001). Although state schools (gongban) are not permitted to charge tuition fees for the nine years of compulsory education, they have been able to levy miscellaneous fees, including management fees (zafei), textbook fees (shufei) and a charge for water and electricity (shuidianfei), which has severely burdened the poorest regions. By way of illustration as to the extent of the burden, in some Hunan villages school fees accounted for 40% of household income, and although the Chinese government tried to ease the burden in 2004 by ruling that miscellaneous school fees were to be replaced by a ‘one fee system’ (yi fei zhi), the ruling proved extremely difficult to implement at the local level (Murphy, 2007, p.79). Market forces have also created problems of teacher recruitment and retention in the poorer regions, because well qualified teachers are now able to take advantage of an open labour market and secure more lucrative employment in the relatively affluent cities and coastal regions (Sargent & Hannum, 2005).

The combined effects of fiscal decentralisation and market forces are illustrated by the financial figures of the two schools studied in Guangxi Zhuang province (Huang, 2004) (see Table 2). A particularly significant difference is the larger percentage of state subsidy received by Liuzhou No.12 Junior Middle School (type-1 location). Central government is prepared to match educational investment from local governments in type-3 (poorer) areas, but in Xiangzhou local government has been unable to raise a sufficient amount of matched funding from local taxation. The impact on Xiangzhou Junior Middle School (type-3 location) has therefore been one of a diminishing proportion of state funding, providing further evidence of regional inequity. In the words of the principal of the school: ‘We have not enough funds. If we had, we would have built a dining room for the students, who have to eat their meals in the classroom’.

The situation has created a financial dilemma for the school. In order to make up the shortfall in income, it derives a much higher percentage of its revenue from miscellaneous student fees than Liuzhou No.12 Junior Middle School to subsidise general expenses. In contrast, the latter is able to generate a higher proportion of income from both student fees and rents for the use of school facilities. Relaxation of the regulations determining school attendance within the official household registration areas (hukou) has also enabled more affluent parents to gain admission for their children to more prestigious schools, including Liuzhou No.12 Junior Middle School, either on the basis of ability or on payment of additional school fees.

The combined effect of fiscal decentralisation and market forces has been to exacerbate inequality of educational opportunity (Postiglione, 2006; Zhu et al, 2006). With a Gini coefficient (a measure of overall inequality) of 0.45 in the 1990s, China had fallen behind most Asian countries and had become more closely aligned to those countries known to be highly unequal in their distribution of wealth, including Thailand (0.43) and the Philippines (0.46) (Shue & Wong, 2007, p.1). Consequently, there has been a high student dropout rate, especially in junior middle schools. Many parents are unable to pay school fees and/or require their children to be ‘household helpers’ (jiating banggong) or casual workers (waichu banggong) to supplement family income (Xiao, 2001; China Labour Bulletin, 2007). Most vulnerable are the ‘left behind’ children of migrant workers, orphans and ‘street children’, because they are at a higher risk of abandonment and forced labour (nugong) (Seeberg, 2006, p.98; China Labour Bulletin, 2007, p.7). It is also a time when students realise whether or not they are likely to progress to senior middle school, those with poor academic prospects being tempted to drop out. In the words of Li Jingrong (2004):

There is therefore very little economic incentive for the poor to keep their children on at school if they are unlikely to advance to the next level (shengxue lu), eventually secure a lucrative career and thereby care for them in old age. Likewise, there is less economic incentive for parents to keep girls on at school because they will ultimately become members of their future husbands’ families. Girls account for about 70% of children not attending primary school and about 75% of all school drop-outs.

3. The National Curriculum

Although rural poverty largely accounts for the high dropout rates in junior middle schools, the impact of the National Curriculum has also been a contributing factor. China’s ancient cultural heritage includes keju, a system of social selection based on examinations that test knowledge of the classical texts. This has influenced China’s education system to this day with an emphasis on examinations, fierce competition and rigorous selection for admission to the senior middle school. The school curriculum has failed to meet the needs of the majority, whose interests have taken second place to an academic elite aspiring to gain entry to the senior middle school and ultimately university (Andreas, 2004, p.37; Xiao, 2006; China Labour Bulletin, 2007, pp.29-30). Even for those students who aspire to academic success, there are enormous pressures that have shaped a mode of teaching and learning pejoratively described as tian yazi (‘force-feeding the duck’). It is convenient for officials to apportion blame to the schools. In the words of one influential member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Committee Conference:

However, an essentially academic national core curriculum and standardised assessment have severely limited room for manoeuvre in junior middle schools. For example, the two case study schools in Guanxi Zhuang, although serving significantly different student populations, were not a liberty to choose textbooks, a decision made by the provincial educational bureau; and until recently they were using the same textbooks for national curriculum subjects.

A further curricular problem has been the relatively low status ascribed to vocational education, which is not seen as a route to future success. The earlier agricultural middle schools (nongye zhongxue) and vocational junior middle schools (zhiye zhongxue) established in the earlier years of the Communist regime rarely enjoyed long-term success. However, there are cultural variations. In her study of multiethnic communities with Yi and Hani minorities, Xiao (2006) found that the curriculum and classroom teaching were seen as irrelevant and ineffective because they paid too little attention to vocational skills and the needs of local firms.

4. Implementation at the school level

Educational policy is rarely implemented at the institutional level without some difficulty – what Becher (1989) termed the ‘implementation gap’ in his analysis of the introduction of the National Curriculum in the UK. The implementation of an effective compulsory education programme in China has been hindered at the school level in a number of ways, motivated either by financial or academic considerations. With government abolition of tuition fees in primary and junior secondary schools, popular and oversubscribed schools (mostly the relatively privileged former ‘keypoint’ schools or zhongdian xuexiao) have sought alternative ways of charging fees as a means of safeguarding their revenue, thus undermining government efforts to remove financial barriers to compulsory school attendance. Such practices include setting up ‘branch schools’ (lian he ban xue) or ‘private schools under the aegis of prestige school’ (mingxiao dai mingxiao) to attract larger numbers of fee paying students (Zhu et al, 2006, pp.52-53), in effect a means of exploiting a loophole in the law. Some schools are also exploiting the hukou regulation by charging an additional fee (jiedu fei) for students enrolling from outside the school district – a tuition fee or school selecting fee in all but name. In terms of safeguarding academic reputations, it has been alleged that as junior middle schools are judged on their examination pass rates in advancing students to the senior middle school, academically weaker students have often been persuaded to drop out of school early by their teachers as well as their parents (Andreas, 2004, p.33; China Labour Bulletin, 2007, p.30).

Attempts to maximise school fees in whatever guise and attempts to persuade some children to drop out of junior middle school have raised serious ethical issues, including criticism of an impetus to ‘profit-seeking’ (mouli) at the expense of social justice, especially in denying many poor but talented students the right of access to an education that matches their talents (Zhu et al, 2006, pp.50-53). There is also a perception that some teachers ‘lack responsibility’ towards their students – an erosion of ethics (daode), linked to the demoralisation of the profession in remote rural areas due to low pay, poor conditions of service and the negative effects of market competition (Andreas, 2004). In the words of the leader of the mathematics research and teaching group in Liuzhou No.12 Junior Middle School (quoted in Huang, 2004):

Significant effort has been made to tackle problems associated with both equity and quality in educational provision for the socially disadvantaged in order to implement the compulsory education programme:

1. Promoting equity and inclusion

To improve access to schooling for children in remote rural areas, the Government’s Rural Boarding Schools Programme (2003-2007) was provided with 6 billion yuan for the building of an initial 5,000 boarding schools. As a means of tackling poverty as a root cause of non-attendance, the Amendment to the Compulsory Education Law (2006) introduced the policy of ‘two exemptions, one subsidy’ (liang mian yi bu), waiving miscellaneous fees and providing boarding allowances and free textbooks for the children of poor families. As school retention rates are now a key performance indicator, added pressure to improve school attendance has been brought to bear by township officials. When revisited by my former colleague, Huang Ting, in 2007, the principal of Xiangzhou Junior Middle School explained that he had taken steps to inform parents of their rights to claim these allowances and therefore ensure that their children attended school regularly. As a result, he had been able to reduce the student dropout rate significantly from 25% in 2000 to 9% in 2007 by building stronger bridges with the local community. An important aspect of this strategy was the arrangement of teacher home visits to ascertain the reasons for absence and to remind parents of their duties under the compulsory education law. The principal had also introduced the use of the ‘school-family card’ (jia xiao lian xi ka) containing vital pupil timetable information and an exchange of parent-teacher contact numbers to facilitate rapid communication in the event of difficulties.

A further initiative in 2006 was the introduction of the first government regulation to protect ‘street children’, including basic provision in terms of food, hygiene and education according to need. International organisations, including UNICEF and Save the Children, have begun to co-operate with the Chinese government in sharing their skills and experience in addressing this problem (Jing & Hu, 2007, p.20; Zhou, 2007). Such reforms are to be welcomed in addressing key issues related to equity and inclusion, but much more needs to be done.

2. Improving quality

Improving the quality of the basic educational infrastructure has been essential in many remote rural areas, including a project for the complete rebuilding of schools in a dangerous condition. There has also been recognition on the part of government that improving school attendance in itself will not be enough. The National New Curriculum was therefore implemented in all primary and junior middle schools from 2005 in an effort to improve the quality of teaching and learning by allowing schools more leeway in curriculum management, by encouraging active learning and problem-solving skills (including the use of ICT), by promoting bilingual education in ethnic minority areas, and by producing multiple versions of standard textbooks to allow for greater choice in regions with diverse cultural traditions (Jing & Hu, 2007, p.19). Efforts have also been made to provide training to upgrade the pedagogical skills of teachers and to encourage teachers to take up posts in remote areas in return for an additional allowance, while school principals have been obliged to undertake further management training to ensure that the reforms are effectively implemented.

However, further improvements to the quality of teaching and school leadership will be crucial to the long-term success of the reforms. Although government has recognised the importance of continuing professional development, there are far too few support staff, and many underpaid teachers in remote areas are unable to afford the cost of travel to training centres. The recommended additional financial incentives for qualified teachers to serve in remote areas also depends on whether local governments will be able to foot the bill, which in many poorer areas, for reasons already stated, will prove difficult. Opportunities for about a million head teachers to upgrade their leadership and management skills are also limited, given that there are only two national head teacher training centres (Jing & Hu, 2007, p.21).

In tackling problems related to issues of equity and inclusion, Jing & Hu (2007) conclude in their preliminary report for UNESCO that the Chinese Ministry of Education has introduced ‘many good policies’. However, they also fear that there is a danger that some will ‘remain on paper’ unless there is more effective implementation. On the basis of available evidence, I would argue that four broad issues need to be prioritised:

1. Increased levels of government funding

The proportion of GDP invested by China in education is far below the international mean and falls short of the government’s own specified targets. Investment in schools in the remote rural areas will need to be increased to improve basic facilities and school infrastructure. Extra funding will also be needed to provide effective in-service training and guidance for both teachers and school principals to ensure the effective implementation of reforms in teaching and school management. Additional investment will also be needed to counteract the inequalities resulting from market forces by tackling poverty and social deprivation, major obstacles to educational opportunity. It is partly for reasons of poverty, for instance, that girls have long been denied equal access to basic education. Moreover, there has also been what Jing & Hu (2007, p.11) describe as a ‘tradition of gender discrimination against girls and women’ (see also Chakrabarti, 1998). Awareness raising and greater support for rural communities to help transform such negative aspects of cultural tradition and gender inequality will therefore be a necessary concomitant to school reform if the compulsory education programme is to be fully successful. Social and educational reform will need to be complementary and mutually reinforcing.

2. Greater transparency and more effective monitoring

A lack of transparency has been identified as a significant problem. It raises a key quality issue. The absence of effective educational management information systems (EMIS) has created difficulty in providing the necessary evidence for monitoring the effective use of central funds, so that government projects have been focused more on measured inputs than outputs. There have also been reported cases of local corruption and embezzlement as well as poor quality provision, e.g. in many boarding schools (Jing & Hu, 2007, p.15). A key challenge will therefore be to improve the Compulsory Education Monitoring System (most recently revised in 2006) which currently collects school data but not in sufficient detail to provide individual student profiles. Data on individual students is needed to track individual student progress and assess school effectiveness (e.g. in terms of student enrolment, attainment, attendance and drop-out rates) with regard to specific student groups (e.g. according to gender, age and ethnicity). It will also be useful to local government officials and head teachers in setting specific targets for school improvement through more effective school development planning. A further problem that needs to be addressed is the shortage of national school inspectors (currently only about 90), while Zheng Fuzhi, the Head of the National Inspection Office, recently admitted in an interview that the professionalism of school inspectors also needs to be improved (China Teacher’s Daily, 28 February 2007, quoted in Jing & Hu, 2007, p.8).

3. The needs of ethnic minority and migrant children

In some ways, the problems of ethnic minority and migrant children are similar in that they are apt to suffer social exclusion and culture shock, especially those moving to the cities with parents in search of better prospects. In her study of rural migrant children moving to Beijing, Kwong (2006) found that many regular schools refuse admission on the grounds that the children were not registered under the hukou system. She also found that the children suffer discrimination and stereotyping and ‘are not entitled to the education, health, housing, or other social benefits that come with registered residence’. Similarly, only 10 of the 55 ethnic minority groups achieve educational levels above the national average (Postiglione, 2006, p.12). A major challenge facing schools in meeting the needs of migrant and ethnic minority children is to achieve an optimal balance between, on the one hand, preserving indigenous cultures and celebrating diversity, and, on the other, integrating children into the dominant Han culture, on which their future economic success will depend. Teachers will also need additional training and support in coping with cultural diversity and bilingual education.

4. Special educational needs (SEN)

Some websites, such as that of the China Internet Information Center, suggest that ‘the Chinese government has all along attached great importance to special education’, that laws have safeguarded the educational rights of the disabled, and that special earmarked funds have been made available for the purpose. Some recent initiatives also give cause for optimism, including collaboration with overseas universities on special needs issues (e.g. between East China Normal University, Shanghai and the University of Kansas) and the emergence of the Chinese Journal of Special Education. However, such achievements must be put in perspective. Overall, there is strong evidence to suggest that special education has been significantly neglected. Since 1987, the government has encouraged inclusion in mainstream schools for disabled children, but national education statistics indicate that only 364,409 (4.6%) of an estimated 8 million disabled children are attending a school of any kind (Jing & Hu, 2007, p.11). As in the case of girls, children with special educational needs have not been regarded as a good financial or educational investment by many parents in poor communities. Indeed, the one-child policy exempts parents whose first born is disabled with the anticipation that a second able-bodied child will provide them with some guarantee of security in old age. As in tackling gender inequality, improving the educational and career prospects of disabled children will require further social as well as educational reform.

In its endeavour to provide a basic education for some 1.3 billion people, the achievements of the Chinese government have been remarkable over the past two decades, but there are challenges and dilemmas which parallel those of many Western countries, at least in nature if not in terms of magnitude. The liberalisation of the economy and the impact of market forces have provided new opportunities for some but also resulted in a widening gap between rich and poor. This is also reflected in a widening gap between schools. The concerns of Western observers about the impact of marketisation and competition on schools in the poor inner cities echo those of disadvantaged schools in the remote, economically deprived rural regions of China. Discomfort about the impact of such reform on professional values is also one of international interest and continued debate. The problems and challenges facing both government and schools in China in respect to meeting the needs of migrant and ethnic minority children are also reflected in Western societies, where educational policy makers and schools are faced with the challenge of what Johnson (2003) describes as the ‘diversity imperative’, catering for increasingly multicultural and ethnically diverse populations in the wake of major demographic shifts, including increased numbers of refugee children and migrants form Eastern Europe. New approaches to school leadership which place greater emphasis on the management of diversity will be needed globally in order to tackle underachievement linked to ethnic and cultural differences (Lumby & Coleman, 2007).

School case studies can provide evidence of the extent to which government policy to promote greater social inclusion and equity has been effectively promoted or conversely stymied at the institutional level. The Chinese examples also further illustrate the ‘implementation gap’ and the immense challenges to be faced in converting policy into sound educational practice.

It has been argued throughout the paper that a more substantial financial investment by government in schools, teacher and head teacher continuing professional development, along with complementary social reform programmes to combat poverty and exclusion, will be necessary to meeting the ‘Education for All’ Dakar Action Plan within the next few years. Research can and should make a significant contribution to achieving this mission. However, the complexity of the task should not be underestimated because it requires attention to inextricably connected social, economic and political, as well as specifically educational, issues. The broader context of educational inequality, with reference to such a diverse range of contributory factors as public finance, local governance, poverty, health, social security, regional isolation, differences in culture and differences in language, is only beginning to be systematically explored (see Postioglione, 2006; Shue & Wong, 2007). Consequently, there is a need for more joined-up research of an interdisciplinary nature, which has the potential to facilitate novel approaches and generate fresh insights that can both inform policy makers and make a real difference to the lives of so many children who are currently being failed by the system.

1. The term chuzhong more accurately translates as ‘junior middle school’, although these schools are often referred to as junior secondary or junior high schools as they correspond to the early years of secondary education (12-15) in Western countries.

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This document was added to the Education-Line database on 02 June 2008