Zhou Zhiwu, IJSR, 2017; 1:9

Research Article IJSR (2017) 1:9

International Journal of Social Research (ISSN:2576-5531)

Current Situation of Basic Education in Poverty-stricken Counties of in the New Era and New Rural Construction -Take County Zijin of City in Province as an example

Zhou Zhiwu

Academy of Marxism, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, , China

ABSTRACT

Basic education in rural areas is an important part of China’s ba- *Correspondence to Author: sic education system. It plays a significant role in improving the Zhou zhiwu quality of the rural population and promoting the economic and Academy of Marxism, Guangdong social development in rural areas, and is of great importance to University of Foreign Studies, the new countryside construction. Although China’s rural basic Guangzhou, China education has made great achievements since reform and open- ing up, many problems still exist. On the basis of a comprehen- sive analysis of the above problems, this paper takes the case How to cite this article: of basic education in County Zijin of Heyuan City as an example, Zhou Zhiwu.Current Situation of and proposes some practical countermeasures for the reference Basic Education in Poverty-stricken in better development of basic education in rural areas. in the New Era and New Rural Construction-Take Keywords: Basic education, Current situation, Countermea- County Zijin of Heyuan City in sures, New Rural Construction Guangdong Province as an exam- ple. International Journal of Social Research, 2017; 1:9.

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Zijin, a county of south-east Heyuan City, is locat- were uneven. Since then, with the introduction ed in the east-central of Guangdong Province. It of relevant policies of rural education and the is a traditional agricultural county and one of the great importance county government attached main Poverty-stricken counties in china. At the to building a high quality teacher team, some pri- beginning of the 21st century, the economic and vate teachers with low teaching capability have social development of County Zijin has devel- been gradually eliminated in the late twentieth oped rapidly due to the industrial transfer in the Century. The same with rural teachers all over Pearl River Delta region, and the comprehen- the country, County Zijin government constant- sive strength has increased continuously. With ly perfects the rural teachers’ income security the growth of economic strength, County Zijin mechanism and rural teachers’ income continu- has put more investment in rural basic education ously increases, pension insurance, medical in- and achieved great results. The development of surance and other aspects also have a complete rural basic education plays an important role in guarantee. After more than 10 years of contin- improving the quality of rural population and pro- uous supplement and optimization, the over- moting the development of rural economy and all quality of teachers in County Zijin has been society. It also has precursory, foundational and greatly improved. comprehensive impacts on the built of a harmo- 1.3 With the popularization of compulsory nious and moderately prosperous society. nine-year schooling, the number of illiteracy 1.Achievements of rural basic education and semi illiterate has dropped off signifi- development in County Zijin cantly. In recent years, there is a sharp decrease in the 1.1 Rural basic education facilities have been number of children in rural areas of County Zi- improved significantly jin due to the implementation of family planning With the development of economy, local gov- policy and changes in farmers’ fertility concept. ernment begins to attach great importance to in- Coupled with the improvement of living condi- frastructure construction in rural schools. Since tions and more attention paid to education in ru- 2002, County Zijin has started the reconstruction ral ares, parents generally require their children project of dilapidated buildings in rural schools, to complete nine years of compulsory education. and reformed the dilapidated buildings in rural According to the statistics of the educational ad- primary and secondary schools throughout the ministrative department of County Zijin in the be- county. Refurbish the habitable buildings and re- ginning of the semester in the autumn of 2015, built the demolished ones. In addition, a number the gross enrollment rate of primary school ed- of school buildings have been built in many rural ucation in the rural areas of the county is about schools to ensure the normal teaching and learn- 98.9%, and the gross enrollment rate of junior ing life. County Zijin invested a total of 86 million middle school is about 93.6%. This shows the Yuan in this project, the reconstruction project popularity of the enrollment of school-age chil- was also commended by the higher authorities. dren in rural areas of County Zijin, but attention County Zijin has carried out the construction of also should be paid to the drop out problem of sports field at the same time to implement the minority students. “national fitness” spirit, basically each school has a basketball court, a number of badminton courts 2. Problems existing in rural basic education and table tennis tables, some junior high schools in County Zijin also have built plastic runway which provides a Although the rural basic education in County good place for students to exercise. Zijin has achieved good results in the years of development, there are still some problems. The 1.2 The overall quality of rural basic educa- main problems are as follows: tion teachers has improved a lot Before 1990s, there were a large number of pri- 2.1 The gap between school facilities in ur- vate teachers in the rural areas of County Zijin, ban areas and rural areas still exists. and their personal quality and knowledge level In recent years, County Zijin has invested a lot

Http://escipub.com/international-journal-of-social-research/ 0002 Zhou Zhiwu, IJSR, 2017; 1:9 of money to improve the infrastructure of rural of the comparative smaller number of teachers schools, but in a whole, there are still gaps be- in County Zijin, many teachers have to give oth- tween the school running conditions of rural ar- er lessons except for the one they are major in. eas in County Zijin and urban areas in County For example, Chinese teachers have to give Zijin and Heyuan City. students physical education and music lessons. This unreasonable phenomenon has been con- Found during the visit of Yizhen Maotian primary sidered as a common in County Zijin. 2.3 Junior school and Jidong primary school in this county, high school dropout phenomenon needs atten- some school offices have only one or two com- tion. puters and no office machines such as copier and printers. There is also no multimedia teaching Despite the substantial improvements in basic equipment in the classroom, and teachers have education in rural areas, due to various sub- to use the original way to give lessons that is jective and objective factors, the drop-out rate writing on the blackboard according to the mate- among students in rural junior high schools in rials in the textbooks. Schools have no library, art County Zijin has been extremely high, making room and music room, and the number of sports it difficult to complete the nine-year compulso- equipment is limited, so students’ after-school life ry education. For example, in Fong’an Middle is boring. During the visit of rural middle schools School in County Zijin, a total of 316 students such as Yirong and Longwo middle school, we were enrolled at the beginning of the fall of 2015, found that computer rooms, chemical laboratory with 298 students remaining at the beginning of and physics laboratory are generally only one in the spring of 2016. The number of students in these schools and can’t meet the corresponding the second grade dropped from 285 to 253, 264 teaching needs. What’s worse, most computers people reduced to 202 people. It can be found in the computer room can’t function properly be- that the higher the grade, the more dropouts. It cause they haven’t been used for many years. is understood that there is such a phenomenon Two or three students have to share one com- of dropping out of schools in other secondary puter in the computer class once a week. schools in County Zijin.

2.2 The overall quality of rural teachers is not 2.3 Junior high school dropout phenomenon high enough and schools are lack of profes- needs attention sional teachers Despite the substantial improvements in basic Although the construction of high-quality ru- education in rural areas, due to various sub- ral teachers team in Heyuan has been greatly jective and objective factors, the drop-out rate promoted in recent years, many problems still among students in rural junior high schools in be found through interviews, mainly as follows: County Zijin has been extremely high, making firstly, the age structure of rural primary school it difficult to complete the nine-year compulso- teachers is unreasonable. Because of the back- ry education. For example, in Fong’an Middle wardness of economic and social development School in County Zijin, a total of 316 students in County Zijin, living conditions and teaching were enrolled at the beginning of the fall of 2015, environment are quite hard, and it is difficult to with 298 students remaining at the beginning of introduce excellent young teachers to the rural the spring of 2016. The number of students in schools, especially primary schools. Teachers the second grade dropped from 285 to 253, 264 are mainly of middle-age and conservative. Sec- people reduced to 202 people. It can be found ondly, the education level of teachers in rural that the higher the grade, the more dropouts. It areas is low, and the overall quality of teachers is understood that there is such a phenomenon is not high. At the end of last century, some pri- of dropping out of schools in other secondary vate teachers in County Zijin stayed in the teach- schools in County Zijin. ers’ team through simple job examinations or through the relationship. These teachers have 3 the reasons of education problem in rural comparatively low education level and no reg- areas in Heyuan City, County Zijin ular teacher education. Thirdly, schools in rural 3.1 The level of economic development lags areas are lack of professional teachers. Because behind, and the financial input to the rural ba- Http://escipub.com/international-journal-of-social-research/ 0003 Zhou Zhiwu, IJSR, 2017; 1:9 sic education is not high in County Zijin it lacks emphasis on rural basic education and does not have Effective management of them, As one of the key poverty-stricken counties in and lack of a long-term plan for the development China, County Zijin enjoys a slow economic of rural basic education. . These government growth and low government revenue. Financial officials neglected the promotion of rural basic tensions will inevitably affect the government’s education on the rural economic and social de- inadequate investment in all kinds of public util- velopment and neglected the long-term benefits ities, especially for the basic education in rural of the development of basic education in rural areas, a serious shortage of funds for educa- areas. Therefore, they failed to focus their efforts tion, resulting in rural school conditions can’t be on educational management and formed ad- compared with the city school, so it is difficult to vanced educational management concepts and attract young and talented teachers to teach. It management methods Besides, management can be said that the backward level of regional methods can’t meet the needs of educational de- economic development is an important factor in velopment, resulting in the county government’s the low quality of rural basic education. rural basic education management level is lower.

3.2 Social, family and other factors 3.4 Education management level is not high Due to the long-term closure and backwardness Education management here refers to the pro- of the mountain villages in County Zijin and the cess of government departments planning, or- poor living conditions, the local peasants have ganizing, coordinating and controlling various re- formed the value orientation of “children of the sources such as human, financial, material and poor families have long been masters of their material resources related to education so as to own home” and “books can’t be taken for din- achieve the goal of education development. The ner”. Under the influence of this traditional think- current educational administration in our country ing, coupled with its low level of culture, many is “county-based”. Due to the influence of geo- peasants failed to recognize the importance of graphical and transportation factors, County Zijin education and lacked a farsighted vision of their has not been able to effectively manage rural ba- children’s learning. At the same time, with the sic education in this county and its management enrollment expansion of colleges and universi- level is low. Mainly in two points: ties, the employment rate of college graduates is not at the optimal point, causing some peas- Firstly, funding cannot be implemented without ants to think that education “investment” is not supervision. For example, a high school in the worthwhile and naturally does not attach impor- county earlier this year to the higher authorities tance to children’s education. In addition, Coun- for a grant of 80,000 yuan of funds, the financial ty Zijin actually does not have any laborers, low open column is written for the physical, chemical incomes and very difficult lives for its peasants. experiment equipment acquisition. However, it Due to lack of money to allow their children to is understood that the school purchased only a study, they can go home early or go out to work small amount of experimental equipment, while in private-owned enterprises. Of course, some the remaining money is used for renovation of poor children have particularly good grades, but the school walls, while the township and county this is an isolated phenomenon in such home en- government departments did not take any action vironments and school running conditions. on this behavior.

3.3 The concept of government education is Secondly, there is lack in necessary inspection outdated and supervision of education and teaching work. For example, government departments’ evalua- Under the influence of graded management and tion mechanisms for rural schools are not per- graded management thought, the government fect, leading to a lack of awareness of competi- departments in County Zijin think that the devel- tion among rural schools and an increase in the opment of basic education in rural areas is only quality of education in schools. In addition, there an issue of the education sector and a matter is randomness in the evaluation of the profes- for the school itself. The government need not sional titles of rural teachers, regardless of the intervene and should not intervene. Therefore, overall quality of teachers and teaching level, as Http://escipub.com/international-journal-of-social-research/ 0004 Zhou Zhiwu, IJSR, 2017; 1:9 long as the qualifications, positions and length of ation for new teachers with high academic qual- service requirements, you can comment on the ifications and excellent comprehensive quality appropriate level of job title. Because of the di- will encourage them to go to the countryside and rect link between job title and salary, this results improve the average quality of rural teachers. in inequality of income among rural teachers and affects their recognition of work. Second, it is necessary to strengthen the train- ing for rural teachers to improve their academic 4 Methods to improve basic education in ru- standards. Education department in the country- ral areas in County Zijin side should often organize rural teacher training, and the training should be targeted at profes- 4.1 Increase funding and improve school sional knowledge, teaching method as well as conditions advanced teaching ideas. In addition, teachers To improve school conditions in rural schools in from rural schools are supposed to be organized County Zijin and to develop basic education, it is every semester to communicate and study in the necessary to increase investment in education urban areas, so that they can return to their own funds. The current mechanism is mainly the re- schools and share their experiences with their sponsibility of the county government to pay for colleagues. basic education in rural areas. However, County 4.3 Take effective measures to control the Zijin has a relatively tight fiscal position and can- phenomenon of dropout not perform this duty well. Therefore, the basic education in rural areas can hardly be changed. The high dropout rate of rural students in County Therefore, we should build a system of education Zijin is not conducive to the development of rural investment focusing on the fiscal expenditures of economy and modern agriculture in the long run. provincial and municipal governments, and fo- Therefore, the government ought to take nec- cus education funding on rural basic education, essary measures to control the phenomenon of which is inherently deficient and has acquired a dropout. slow development in the day after tomorrow. At the same time, County Zijin government depart- First, we should increase the publicity of educa- ments can raise funds for education in various tion. Government departments should help raise ways. For example, they can encourage out- the farmers’ awareness of compulsory education standing rural people to go out and contribute to the level of law through television, radio, news- their money to rural basic education. They can papers, network and other social media. Further- also contact the authorities; enterprises and in- more, Compulsory Education Law shall also be stitutions in the Pearl River Delta to conduct rural popularized. However, the publicity of education education in this county help counterparts. ought to be targeted at the promotion of staff form Education Department to the farmers. Only when 4.2 Strengthening the construction of quali- staff goes into the village and give plain lectures fied teachers, improving education quality can farmers change their attitude towards basic education and realize the important significance Education is the hope for the rejuvenation of Chi- of education to the fate of children, the future of nese nation, while the teacher is responsible for the family and the development of rural econo- the revitalization of education. Improving basic my. After that, they will realize they should send education in the countryside can start from the their children to schools so that large quantities following two aspects: of children in the area can get educated. First, we should optimize the age structure of ru- Second, subsidy should be given to extremely ral teachers and improve the average quality of poor families. In the poor mountainous areas of rural teachers. Dismissing a portion of older un- County Zijin, faced with labor shortage, there qualified rural teachers or encouraging them to are many poor families living on less than 200 retire ahead of schedule can make more young Yuan. Some subsidies should be given to these teachers join village teachers in order to achieve families by government. In addition to increasing the goal of rural teachers’ age structure optimi- their lowest living expenses every month, extra zation. At the same time, improving the remuner- money should be given to children in the school. Http://escipub.com/international-journal-of-social-research/ 0005 Zhou Zhiwu, IJSR, 2017; 1:9 On this basis, parents’ motivation to send their the responsibilities and management scope that children to school will improve and their chil- their respective departments should share, and dren’s desire to study will be enhanced. establish an effective supervision and feedback mechanism, which is to raise the rural founda- Third, focus on the left-behind children educa- tions The key to education management level. tion. Rural schools should give more attention to left-behind children. Besides, schools should 5.Epilogue also communicate with them more in daily life and know about their life, learning, interperson- Building the new socialist countryside is an in- al relationship so that feedbacks about students evitable requirement of the development and can be delivered to their parents. Once some- construction of a harmonious society. It is also a thing happens, schools can come up with the practical measure for our party to solve the “three solution with the help of parents. rural issues” in the new period, and an important part of building a well-off society in an all-round 4.4 change education concept and improve way. General secretary Xi Jinping said that the management level living conditions of the fellow villager is a key el- ement to the well-being of the whole society. The County Zijin government departments has low education of contemporary farmers is of great level of management for rural basic education, significance in the construction of the newso- leading to a unclear development direction for cialist countryside. It is the key to solve the “three the rural basic education career, and teaching rural issues” and the key to the problems in the order chaos. Therefore, the county’s basic edu- rural areas in poor counties. Therefore, speeding cation management level needs to be improved. up the development of rural cultural and educa- First of all, we should change the outdated con- tional undertakings in poor areas, paying atten- cept of education. Government departments at tion to rural basic education, popularizing and the county level must eliminate the thought that consolidating the nine year compulsory educa- “education is the task only for Education Depart- tion in rural areas are of great significance to the ments and schools”. Instead, it should realize the cultivation of new farmers, the development of important role the rural basic education develop- new socialist countryside and the construction of ment plays in the new rural area construction. a well-off society in an all-round way. Setting clear goals reasonable plans and distrib- The present situation of rural basic education in uting resources to service are going to serve ru- Zijin County reflects the common problems in ral basic education better. poverty-stricken counties, which has an import- Secondly, we should reform the evaluation ant influence on the construction of new socialist system of schools and teachers. To measure countryside and the improvement of backward a school level and education quality, the focus rural areas in poor areas. And it should be paid should be on examining the balanced develop- enough attention by the government and all cir- ment of students’ morality, intelligence and phy- cles of society. The local county government sique. The quality of education should be judged must keep pace with the times, regard the devel- systematically. When judging a teacher’s work, it opment of rural basic education as the key point is wrong to rely on the first impression. We can’t of work, and invest more resources to the rural take it for granted that teachers with higher ed- basic education, so as to promote the devel- ucation and long teaching age must teach bet- opment of rural basic education. Rural schools ter than other teachers. The atmosphere of the should adhere to the school running philosophy whole class and the feedback and reaction of of “all for the students, for all students”, and strive students shall also be taken into consideration. to cultivate as many as possible the all-round de- velopment of students, in the hope that they can In addition, we must clarify the responsibilities make a due contribution to the construction of and authorities of all parties. In promoting the de- new countryside in the future.The country teach- velopment of basic education in rural areas, gov- ers are the main body in the teaching work of ernment departments at all levels should give rural schools. They should constantly improve full play to their enthusiasm and initiative, clarify their knowledge and teaching skills, and culti-

Http://escipub.com/international-journal-of-social-research/ 0006 Zhou Zhiwu, IJSR, 2017; 1:9 vate more qualified students. Country students should cherish the valuable education opportuni- ties and try to change their fate with knowledge. Even if they are not able to get admission to the university, they can strive to be qualified farmers under the contemporary cultural ideology. So- cial organizations, authorities, private enterpris- es and other social sectors should also actively participate in the great cause of promoting the development of rural basic education. We firmly believe that as long as the poor coun- ties work together for the development of rural basic education, it will achieve considerable and sustainable development, and make important contributions to the construction of new socialist countryside.

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