EDUCATION IN CHINA

EDUCATION IN CHINA

A Snapshot

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Education in China

A SNAPSHOT

Foreword

In 2015, three economies in China participated in the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment, or PISA, for the first time: Beijing, a municipality, Jiangsu, a province on the eastern coast of the country, and Guangdong, a southern coastal province. Shanghai, which, like Beijing, is also a Chinese megacity of over 20 million people, has participated in PISA since 2009. These four economies alone are home to more than 233 million people ? more than the entire population of Brazil, nearly three times the population of Germany and nearly four times the population of France. What do we know about the largest education system in the world? A system that is educating 260 million young people, and that employs 15 million teachers? Not very much. This paper aims to change that. It provides a broad overview of how China's education system is organised and operates, and how reforms, both past and current, have reshaped education in China over time. The report then examines in greater detail education in the four economies within China that participated in PISA 2015. It provides the context in which China's participation in PISA ? and its results in PISA ? should be interpreted. This report was drafted by Yuanyuan Pan, during her internship and consultancy at the OECD, and was completed and reviewed by Sophie Vayssettes and Elizabeth Fordham, from the OECD Secretariat. Yang Cancan, from the Department of International Cooperation and Exchanges in the Chinese Ministry of Education, co-ordinated the review of the report within the Ministry. The report was also reviewed by an external expert, Kai-ming Cheng, Emeritus Professor at the University of Hong Kong. Sakshi Mishra provided analytical support, and Yi Zhou was responsible for data checking and iconographic research. Sophie Limoges co-ordinated the publication process, Marissa Col?n-Margolies edited the report, and Sara Gouveia provided administrative support.

EDUCATION IN CHINA: A SNAPSHOT ? OECD 2016 ? 3

Table of contents

Chapter 1 ORGANISATION AND MANAGEMENT OF EDUCATION IN CHINA 7 Introduction 8 China's education system 9 Teachers and teaching 17 Student affairs 22 Curriculum 23 References 25

Chapter 2 EDUCATIONAL REFORMS AND CURRENT ISSUES 27 Introduction 28 Narrowing the rural-urban gap and regional differences in education 28 Reforming curriculum at all levels and focusing more on creativity 30 Reducing the role of standardised testing and reforming the gaokao 31 Strengthening educational inspection 33 References 34

Chapter 3 BEIJING 35 Introduction 36 Alleviating academic burdens for elementary school students 38 Overcoming inequality 39 Improving the quality of education 39 References 40

Chapter 4 SHANGHAI 41 Introduction 42 Pioneer in examination reform 42 Enhancing equity and inclusion 43 References 44

Chapter 5 JIANGSU 45 Introduction 46 A leader in pre-school and equitable development 46

4 ? EDUCATION IN CHINA: A SNAPSHOT ? OECD 2016

Redistributing resources and expanding access for migrants 47 Providing a well balanced curriculum 49 Note 49 References 49

Chapter 6 GUANGDONG 51 Introduction 52 Increasing investment and building partnerships 53 Spurring education development in Shenzhen 54 References 55

Annexes

Annex A The responsibilities of the Ministry of Education 58

Annex B List of the Ministry of Education's departments with functions 60

Boxes

Box 1.1

Participation in PISA....................................................................................8

Box 1.2

Administrative divisions in China..........................................................9

Box 1.3 Government efforts to reform pre-school education......................11

Box 1.4

Where are the 15-year-olds?..................................................................11

Box 1.5

Admission to higher education.............................................................12

Box 1.6

Education funding......................................................................................16

Box 1.7Educational investments in compulsory education in rural areas................................................................................................17

Box 1.8

Basic Education Curriculum Reform....................................................23

Box 2.1 Special policies for teachers in rural areas........................................29

Box 2.2

The hukou system.......................................................................................29

Box 6.1

Languages in China...................................................................................52

EDUCATION IN CHINA: A SNAPSHOT ? OECD 2016 ? 5

Tables

Table 1.1The content of qualification examination in different types of education..................................................................................................19

Table 1.2 Professional titles with requirements.................................................21 Table 3.1 Student-teacher ratio ranked by teacher level.................................37 Table 6.1 Basic statistics for Shenzhen and Hong Kong..................................54

Figures

Figure 1.1 China's education system organisation.............................................10 Figure 1.2Total education funds and government appropriations

for education (2005-2014)........................................................................15 Figure 1.3Government appropriations for education as % of GDP

(2005-2014)...................................................................................................15 Figure 1.4Share of expenditure on education

by source of funding (2014).....................................................................16 Figure 1.5 Teachers types at different levels.........................................................18 Figure 3.1Personnel engaged in science and technology activities

in Beijing (2005-2014)................................................................................36 Figure 3.2Government appropriated budgetary funds

for education per student in regular primary school, regular junior secondary school and regular senior secondary school (2013)...........................................................................37 Figure 5.1Per capita income of urban and rural residents by region (2014)...........................................................................................47

6 ? EDUCATION IN CHINA: A SNAPSHOT ? OECD 2016

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