EducationinChinaSincethefoundingofthePeople’sRepublicofChinain1949,animportantgovernmentalefforthasbeentoeliminateilliteracyandpopularizecompulsoryeducation.Atpresent,thenationalnetenrollmentrateinelementaryschoolsis98.58percent,andthegrossenrollmentrateinjuniorhighschoolshasreached90percent.Thiscomparesto1949whenonly20percentofschool-agechildrenwereinschool,and80percentofalladultswereilliterate.Todayilliteracyamongtheyoungandmiddle-agedpopulationhasdecreasedtolessthan5percent,andthenine-yearcompulsoryeducationbasicallyhasbeenestablishedintheareaswhere90percentofthecountry’spopulationlive.ThepasttenyearshasseenthefastestdevelopmentineducationinChina.Tenyearsago,forexample,fewinstitutionsofferedanMBA(MasterofBusinessAdministration).In2003,some62schoolsofferMBAs,enrollingsome30,000MBAstudents.InternationalprofessionaldegreeslikeEMBA(EmployedMasterofBusinessAdministration)andMPA(MasterofPublicAdministration)arealsooffered.AsregardstheMPAdegree,theStateCouncilDegreeCommitteehasauthorized47Chineseinstitutionsofhigherlearningtoofferthedegree,andsome7,700studentshavebeenenrolledatpresent.Internationalcooperationandexchangesineducationhaveincreasedyearbyyear.Chinahasthemoststudentsstudyingabroadintheworld.Since1979,some582,000Chinesestudentshavestudiedin103countriesandregions,amongwhom160,000havereturnedafterfinishingtheirstudies.Meanwhile,thenumberofforeignstudentsstudyinginChinahasalsoincreased.In2003,therewere86,000studentsfrom170foreigncountriesstudyinginChina’suniversities.用心爱心专心EducationinChinathrivesinpartbecauseofincreasedinvestment.Since1998,thepercentageoffundsallottedtoeducationbytheCentralGovernmenthasgrown1percentagepointannually.In2003,thenationalgovernmentfundforeducationwas349.14billionyuan,accountingfor3.41percentoftheGDP,anincreaseof0.22percentagepointfromthepreviousyear,beingthehighestsince1989whenthisindexwasfirstmonitored.AccordingtoadevelopmentprogramoftheMinistryofEducation,thegovernmentwillestablishaneducationfinancialsysteminlinewiththepublicfinancialsystem,strengthentheresponsibilityofgovernmentsatalllevelstoinvestineducation,andensurethatthegovernments’financialallocationineducationgrowsfasterthantheirregularrevenue.Theprogramalsosetsagoaloftryinginarelativelyshorttimetomakeeducationalinvestmentaccountfor4percentoftheGDP.Fornon-compulsoryeducation,Chinahasasystemofsharingcostswithstudentsbychargingtuitionatacertainpercentageoftheeducationalcost.Meanwhile,toensureeducationforstudentsfromfamilieswitheconomicdifficulties,theChinesegovernmentoffersscholarships,work-studyprograms,subsidiesforstudentswithspecialeconomicdifficulties,reductionoforexemptionfromtuition,andstatestudentloans.ThegovernmentiscommittedtoprovidingmoreandmoreeducationalopportunitiesasdemonstratedinaplanoftheMinistryofEducationwherebyin2020forevery100,000persons,13,500willhaveajuniorcollegeeducationandabout31,000willhaveseniorhighschooldiplomas;thepercentageofilliterateorsemi-literatepopulationwillgodownbelow3percent;andtheaverageschoolingofthewholepopulationwillincreasefromeightyearsoftodayto11years.用心爱心专心
