By staff reporter LU RUCAI

A report released by the Asian Development Bank states that of the world’s 190 nations, more than 170 provide their children with free compulsory education. Included in the list are poor Asian countries like Laos, Cambodia and Nepal, whose per capita GDP amounts to just one third of China’s. So when will Chinese children enjoy free compulsory education? Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao says, “Starting this year, students from poor farming families receiving compulsory education in key counties included in the national plan for poverty alleviation through development will be provided with free textbooks and exempted from paying miscellaneous fees.” He went on to say, “What’s more, those staying on campus will receive living allowances. We will extend this policy throughout the country's rural areas by 2007 to ensure that all students from poor families can go to school and receive compulsory education.” Premier Wen said this in his government work report to the Third Session of the 10th National People's Congress in 2005. Zhu Yongxin, the NPC deputy and initiator of the motion, was gratified when he heard the report. Although the report mentions only those children living in key counties that are included in the national plan for poverty alleviation, he interprets it as signaling the onset of free compulsory education for the entire country.

Compulsory Education Is Not Free

Twenty-four-year-old Li Li graduated from college three years ago, and still has clear memories of her primary school days. Born in a small village in Rizhao, Shandong Province, when Li Li reached school age, her parents decided to keep her at home as their limited income was insufficient for her and her elder brother’s education. When the village cadres heard this, they came to see Li Li’s parents and show them China’s Law on Compulsory Education, which states that all children over 6 years of age should receive nine years of compulsory education, regardless of their sex or ethnic background. So Li Li’s parents somehow found the money to send her to school. When she finished her higher education Li Li found a decent job in the town.

China’s compulsory education includes six years of primary school and three years of junior high school. Tremendous developments have taken place since the Law on Compulsory Education was introduced in 1986 when there were just 289,000 primary schools and 4,266 middle schools in China. By the end of 1998, the number of primary school had doubled, catering for 140 million students, and the number of junior high schools had increased 14-fold, with more than 50 million students. Compulsory education is available in 90 percent of China’s populated areas, and illiteracy among young and middle-aged Chinese has plummeted to less than 5 percent.

Li Li’s parents were, however, perplexed at China’s compulsory education not being free. They had to pay miscellaneous expenses amounting to dozens of yuan every semester, in addition to the costs of Li Li’s textbooks. Her brother’s son is now at primary school, and costs have risen tenfold.

Although the Law on Compulsory Education states that students are exempted from tuition fees, a general lack of funds for education has precludes completely free education. In China’s vast rural area, it is county and township governments that are the majority investors in education. According to a survey by the Development Research Center of the State Council, issued in 2002, 78 percent of compulsory education expenses that year were paid by township and county governments, while funding from the central government amounted to less than 2 percent. Statistics from the National Forum of Education Bureau chiefs show central government funding to have risen to 8 percent, still far from enough to ease the financial burden felt by local governments.

Anhui is a big province in central China, and Jinzhai County is the largest of its poor counties included in the national plan for poverty alleviation. Si Min, deputy county magistrate in charge of educational affairs says, “We are allowed to charge RMB 100 (US $12) in miscellaneous fees for each primary school student and RMB 150 (US $18) for junior high students. The Anhui provincial government provides a further RMB 40 in allowances per student for each semester. This hardly covers teachers’ salaries.” Si Min estimates that a further RMB 60 (US $7) per primary student and RMB 130 (US $15) per junior high school student are required to make up the shortfall. After doing the math, he says, “There are 54,106 primary school students and 35,412 junior high school students in our county, which means another RMB 7.85 million (US $950,000) for compulsory education is required every year.” The premier’s government work report is welcome news for Si Min, as his county will benefit from the central government financial support which is to be allocated from this year onwards.

Free Compulsory Education Is Possible

There are experts that argue that China already has the finance necessary to provide free compulsory education to all. In the Third China Rural Development Forum, held in March 2005, Han Jun, chief of the Agricultural Department of the Development Research Center of the State Council, stated that China has full capacity to provide free compulsory education within the next five years. His opinion is shared by NPC deputy Zhu Yongxin, who carried out an investigation into education among Chinese children. His results showed that of China’s 193 million primary and high school students, 70 percent are in rural areas. Education experts say that, according to international average based on GDP and government spending on education, each Chinese primary student requires RMB 500 (US $60) annually, and each junior high school student needs RMB 1,000 (US $120). The two items combined would call for RMB 67.5 billion (US $8.2 billion) per annum for free compulsory education. Bearing in mind the RMB 2 trillion (US$ 242 billion) of available Chinese revenue, this figure seems affordable.

Although the premier’s pledge gives hope to all concerned, experts are still intent on speeding up the pace of free compulsory education for all. The present Law on Compulsory Education is unspecific about education investment, and in 2004 an amendment was proposed to the 12th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the 10th National People's Congress. That amendment is included in this year’s legislative plan.

Taking China’s vast area and large population into account, providing free compulsory education to all is a mammoth task. The government has a four-step plan: first, to providPupils in poor western area are issued free textbooks.e free compulsory education in the 592 key counties included in the poverty alleviation plan; second, to all students from poor families in rural areas; third, in all rural areas; and fourth, in all towns and cities. The central government says that the second phase will be achieved by 2007.

As investment in education comes mainly from local governments, some of the more developed areas take their own initiative in providing free compulsory education. Guangdong Province, for instance, has already started providing free compulsory education to children in families with an annual income of less than RMB 1,500 (US $180) in 2001, and has plans to popularize this practice throughout the province within 15 years. Other developed regions are following suit. Free compulsory education for all is now generally acknowledged as an indispensable aspect of China’s social structure.