OECD THEMATIC REVIEW OF TERTIARY EDUCATION Background Report for the P.R of China National Center for Education Development Research of the Ministry of Education of the P.R. of China February 2007 1 FOREWORD With the development of economic globalisation and knowledge economy, tertiary education1 in underdeveloped countries is undergoing profound changes. The Education Committee of OECD started its Thematic Review of Tertiary Education under the title of “Rethinking Tertiary Education in a Global Economy” in 2004, which involves 24 participating countries along with China. This report is prepared to support Chinese participation in this Review, especially the review visit by the team of OECD experts to China. As the largest developing country in the world, China is taking up education work at the largest scale. In 2005, the number of registered students in China was the largest in the world, and the gross rate of enrolments exceeded 21%. According to the national development policy, secondary education is expected to become universal before 2020 and as postsecondary education and training will become fundamental for all for gaining better employment, personal and social development, tertiary education will need to be developed on a sound and continuous basis. Active participation in this the OECD Review will benefit the development and reform of Chinese tertiary education, help to satisfy the people’s demands for development. and keep China’s tertiary education policy abreast of international developments. It will also help the Chinese education policy researchers to establish close relationship with their colleagues internationally. In recent years, China has maintained effective and fruitful relationship with OECD in education field. According to the arrangement by Chinese Ministry of Education and Education Committee of OECD, the National Center for Education Development Research (NCEDR) has worked together with the project team from Beijing Normal University to study and prepare the research report on Chinese tertiary education. To facilitate the research, the project team of Education Committee of OECD required certain standards including format and length specification, which were to be used by all participating countries. An OECD experts’ team would then conduct on-site visit and study for preparing its review report on China. The National Center for Education Development Research and Beijing Normal University have dedicated enormous amount of human resources and financial resources into this project. With the help from Chinese Ministry of Education and other related authorities, the information regarding the history, general information, achievements and problems of Chinese tertiary education has been collected and systematically studied, on which this report is based. This report has benefited from the efforts of a large number of very dedicated researchers. The report has been revised several times to take account of comments from the OECD Secretariat and other 1 Here tertiary education represents all forms of postsecondary education, which includes regular higher education, advanced professional education, adults higher education, education for academic degrees, all forms of training activities, and all other learning activities that satisfies the individual demands on developments. 2 comments. As the national coordinator, Prof. Zhang Li, the Director General of National Center of Education Development Research, was in charge of the external liaison and coordination work. As the project team leader, Prof. Fan Wenyao, Deputy Director General of NCEDR was responsible for conducting the research. Director Ma, Luting and Deputy Director Liu, Chengbo from the Research Division of Higher Education of NCEDR were responsible for the draft of the research plan, amendment of the draft report and editing. Ms. Yang, Xiuwen, Associate Professor and Deputy Director of the Administrative Office of NCEDR liaised and communicated with the OECD Education Committee and finalised the report format. Professor Wang Yingjie and his academic team from International Education & Comparison Research Center of Beijing Normal University took main responsibilities for drafting all chapters and translation work. They have made very important contribution to this research. After completing the first draft, the project team consulted experts from different areas such as Director Wang Fengling from Social Development of National Development and Reform Commission, and other experts from Ministry of Education including Mr. Xu Xiaomin, Deputy Director General of Finance Department, Mr. Liu, Dawei, Deputy Director General of Department of Student Affairs, Mr. Zhang Zhaowen, Deputy Director of Department of Vocational Education and Adults Education, Mr. Xu Yongji, assistant of Director General of Department of International Cooperation and Exchanges, Mr. Song Yi, branch director from Department of Higher Education, Mr. Qin, Changwei, branch director from Department of Development and Planning, Mr. Zhang Jianhua, branch director from Science & Technology Department, and Mr. Hu Wei, Branch Director from Department of Human Resources. The report was carefully amended with their opinions and suggestions, which made the report more accurate and reliable. In October 2006, experts from Education Committee of OECD visited China and held discussions with the project team. The report was further revised after these discussions and finalised. The drafting responsibilities for various chapters of the report were as follows : Chapter 1, 2 and 11 by Chen Hefang; Chapter 3 by Geng Yiqun; Chapter 4 by Hao Haixia; Chapter 5 by Wang Baoping ; Chapter 6 by Zhang Yanmin; Chapter 7 by Sun Guicong; Chapter 8 by Zhang Chi; Chapter 9 by Xiong Geng; Chapter 10 by Li Qiaozhen. Ma Hui translated the whole report and Professor Wang Yingjie edited the initial draft of the whole report and the translation. It must be highlighted that Mr. Fan Wenyao played critical role in the successful completion of the project. He guided the general direction of the research and suggested many amendments to various drafts. Professor Wang Yingjie played substantial role in guiding and providing intellectual support to the team during the drafting and translation period. During the one year long careful edition and amendment period, Dr. Liu Chengbo and Dr. Chen Hefang devoted enormous time and energy in data revision, report editing, and liaison and communication with the project team. Dr. Ma Hui efficiently and accurately completed the intensive translation job. The Department of International Cooperation and Exchanges and Department of Finance of MOE provided necessary human sources and 3 financial support to facilitate the process of the project. We are very gratified that the report is now finalised and it has served the purposes of the OECD experts’ team for the China review. We sincerely hope that our efforts will help the world to better understand the Chinese tertiary education and assist China to better understand the trend and policy of international tertiary education. Work Team of China Background Report on Tertiary Education November 2006 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS FOREWORD ................................................................................................................................................... 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS................................................................................................................................. 5 1. THE NATIONAL CONTEXT OF TERTIARY EDUCATION ................................................................... 8 1.1 Economic, social and cultural background ............................................................................................ 8 1.2 Demographic Characteristics ................................................................................................................. 9 1.3 The Labour Market ................................................................................................................................ 9 2. OVERALL DESCRIPTION OF THE TERTIARY EDUCATION SYSTEM .......................................... 10 2.1. Goals and objectives of tertiary education .......................................................................................... 10 2.2. The operation of the tertiary education system ................................................................................... 11 2.3. Governance and administration of regular institutions ....................................................................... 12 2.4. Diversified tertiary institutions ........................................................................................................... 13 2.5. Development scale of the tertiary education ....................................................................................... 15 3. THE TERTIARY EDUCATION SYSTEM AND THE LABOUR MARKET ......................................... 20 3.1 The employment situation of the graduates ......................................................................................... 20 3.2 The relationship between the supply of tertiary education graduates and that of graduates from other sectors ........................................................................................................................................................ 22 3.3 Influence of the government on the relationship between tertiary education system and labour market23 3.4 Influence of international labour market on the tertiary education .....................................................