FURTHER EDUCATION in CHINA Introduction to the Education System
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
FURTHER EDUCATION IN CHINA Introduction to the education system The Chinese education system is a state-run system of public education run by the Ministry of Education. All citizens must attend school for at least nine years. The government provides primary education for six years, starting at age six or seven, followed by six years of secondary education for ages 12 to 18. Some provinces may have five years of primary school but four years for middle school. There are three years of middle school and three years of high school. In 1985, the government abolished tax-funded higher education, requiring university applicants to compete for scholarships based on academic ability. In the early 1980s the government allowed the establishment of the first private schools. 1. The Chinese Education System Although the government has authority over the education system, the Chinese Communist Party has played a role in managing education since 1949. The monitors the government's implementation of its policies at the local level and within educational institutions through its party committees. Party members within educational institutions, who often have a leading management role, are responsible for steering their schools in the direction mandated by party policy. The Law on Nine-Year Compulsory Education, which took effect on July 1 1986, established requirements and deadlines for attaining universal education tailored to local conditions and guaranteed school-age children the right to receive at least nine years of education (five year primary education and four years secondary education). The program sought to bring rural areas, which had four to six years of compulsory schooling, into line with their urban counterparts. 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. 1.1 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. To enable vocational education to better accommodate the demands of economic re-structuring and urbanisation, in recent years the government has remodeled vocational education, oriented towards obtaining employment, and focusing on two major vocational education projects to meet society's ever more acute demand for high quality, skilled workers. These are cultivating skilled workers urgently needed in modern manufacture and service industries; and training rural laborers moving to urban areas. man_002\2597324\1 1 16 May 2011 robinscz 1.2 Private Education The government supports private educational organisations. The first "Law on Promotion of Private Education" came into effect on September 1, 2003. Development of private schools means an increase in overall education supply and a change in the traditional pattern of public-only schools, so as to meet educational needs. At the end of 2004, there were more than 70,000 private schools of all types and level, with a total enrollment of 14.16 million, including 1,279 private institutes of higher learning, with a total enrollment of 1.81 million. Private schools have pioneered cooperation with foreign partners in the running of schools and many foreign universities have entered China this way, which has both improved the quality of China's education resources and opened new channels for students' further studies man_002\2597324\1 2 16 May 2011 robinscz HIGHER EDUCATION IN CHINA 1. Types of higher education providers Higher education is provided by institutions of various types and the length of study may vary from one month to several years. Generally the bachelor‟s degree is only granted by universities and specialist institutions, although the right to grant such degrees has also been given to some vocational institutions. Usually, vocational institutions and specialised colleges provide non-university postsecondary studies and their graduates are awarded diplomas. The higher education institutions offer a wide variety of traditional and non- traditional programmes that lead to degrees or diplomas. However, only programmes which have been approved by the Ministry of Education can be considered as recognised. 1.1 Universities and specialist institutions Universities and specialised institutions offer degree programmes in 11 different fields, with each field being sub-divided into further specialities. The fields of study are as follows: agriculture; arts; engineering; finance and economics; forestry; humanities; medicine and pharmacy; natural science; physical culture; political science and law; and teacher training. Obtaining a place at a university is very competitive and places are very limited, with the number of students applying for places greatly outnumbering the number of places available. There is also a very strict national system of selection for university places based on scores obtained in the unified national university/college entrance examination. 1.2 Specialist schools/colleges These institutions offer higher education programmes which represent less than four years of full time study in the fields of: agriculture; animal husbandry; various areas of commerce (e.g. accounting and taxation); engineering and technology; medical sciences; navigation; sericulture; teacher training; and tourism. Admission to specialist colleges is generally based on graduation from senior middle school and scores on the unified national university entrance examinations. Diplomas may be earned upon completion of two or three year full time programmes, or three to four year part time programmes. After two years of successful study students can apply to the third year of a bachelors programmes in a degree-granting higher education institution. 1.3 Vocational universities The purpose of vocational universities is to address the manpower requirements of the community in which they are located. Some of the institutions have grown out of workers‟ colleges and some out of the branch colleges of large universities, while some are new institutions. The graduates are usually awarded diplomas, but very few vocational universities also have the right to offer the bachelo‟s degree programme. Even though most vocational universities do not offer degree programmes, they generally use the Chinese characters for „college‟ man_002\2597324\1 3 16 May 2011 robinscz or „university‟ in their official name and the characters for „vocational‟ may not even appear in their name at all. 1.4 Adult (non-formal) higher education Non-formal higher education is largely three years in length. It follows the curriculum for formal higher education in corresponding disciplines. Entrance to such programmes usually requires passing the Adult Higher Education Entrance Examination, which is a national public examination. The State Education Commission now includes an adult educational department as do provincial, autonomous regional, municipal, and county-level education commissions, departments, and bureaux. 1.5 Alternative forms of higher education There are various other forms of higher education that operate in China. These include: Administrative Colleges: these offer adult middle school level and higher education programmes for staff members employed in government offices. Correspondence and evening programmes: these offer part time adult higher education programmes through correspondence and evening courses. Diploma programmes, in-service courses, refresher courses and other courses are offered on a face to face basis. Bachelor‟s degree programmes may also be offered on a part time basis and are considered to be equivalent to those earned in formal higher education programmes, and therefore are approved by the Ministry of Education. Independent self-study examinations: this is the only form of higher education in China with an entirely open admissions policy. Because of this, the Ministry of Education carefully regulates the examinations in order to ensure quality. It is possible for students to work towards the award of a bachelors degree in this way. 2. Establishment of Institutions of Higher Education 2.1 Chapter III Article 24 of the Higher Education Law Order No. 7 of the President of the People‟s Republic of China (the “Order”) website: http://202.205.177.9/edoas/en/level3.jsp?tablename=1242700726117393&info id=1243301371035191&title=Higher Education Law of the People's Republic of China) states that Higher education institutions shall be established in accordance with State plans for the development of higher education and in keeping with the interests of the State and the public; they may not be established for purposes of making profits. Article 27 of the Order states that for establishment of a higher education institution, the following materials shall be submitted to the approving authority: (1) an application; man_002\2597324\1 4 16 May 2011 robinscz (2) feasibility study materials; (3) regulations; and (4) other materials required by the approving authority in accordance with the provisions of the Order. Article 29 of the Order states that the establishment of higher education institutions shall be subject to examination and approval by the administrative department for education under the State Council, the ones for special course education may