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China EDUCATION POLICY
During the Cultural Revolution, higher education in particular
suffered tremendous losses; the system was shut down, and a rising
generation of college and graduate students, academicians and
technicians, professionals and teachers, was lost. The result was
a lack of trained talent to meet the needs of society, an
irrationally structured higher education system unequal to the
needs of the economic and technological boom, and an uneven
development in secondary technical and vocational education. In the
post-Mao period, China's education policy continued to evolve. The
pragmatist leadership, under Deng Xiaoping, recognized that to meet
the goals of modernization it was necessary to develop science,
technology, and intellectual resources and to raise the
population's education level. Demands on education--for new
technology, information science, and advanced management
expertise--were levied as a result of the reform of the economic
structure and the emergence of new economic forms. In particular,
China needed an educated labor force to feed and provision its 1-
billion-plus population.
By 1980 achievement was once again accepted as the basis for
admission and promotion in education. This fundamental change
reflected the critical role of scientific and technical knowledge
and professional skills in the Four Modernizations. Also, political
activism was no longer regarded as an important measure of
individual performance, and even the development of commonly
approved political attitudes and political background was secondary
to achievement. Education policy promoted expanded enrollments,
with the long-term objective of achieving universal primary and
secondary education. This policy contrasted with the previous one,
which touted increased enrollments for egalitarian reasons. In 1985
the commitment to modernization was reinforced by plans for
nine-year compulsory education and for providing good quality
higher education.
Deng Xiaoping's far-ranging educational reform policy, which
involved all levels of the education system, aimed to narrow the
gap between China and other developing countries. Modernizing China
was tied to modernizing education. Devolution of educational
management from the central to the local level was the means chosen
to improve the education system. Centralized authority was not
abandoned, however, as evidenced by the creation of the State
Education Commission. Academically, the goals of reform were to
enhance and universalize elementary and junior middle school
education; to increase the number of schools and qualified
teachers; and to develop vocational and technical education. A
uniform standard for curricula, textbooks, examinations, and
teacher qualifications (especially at the middle-school level) was
established, and considerable autonomy and variations in and among
the autonomous regions, provinces, and special municipalities were
allowed. Further, the system of enrollment and job assignment in
higher education was changed, and excessive government control over
colleges and universities was reduced.
Data as of July 1987
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