Two Decades of Basic Education in Rural China

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5.1 Introduction

This chapter explores key issues that concern teachers and teacher development.
First it discusses the development of policy and practice in relation to pubic sup-
ported and substitute teachers who remain part of the workforce on inferior con-
ditions of service located in rural areas. Second the quality of rural teachers is
illuminated using data from the case study areas. Third teacher stability and turn-
over are investigated. Fourth, teacher deployment and efficiency are considered.
The last section reaches conclusions about ways forward.
Historically most teachers in China have worked in rural and semi rural loca-
tions and have played a central role in supporting the education of the masses
and universalizing access to basic education. This situation has been changing as
development has resulted in large migrations to urban areas though because of the
residence rules (hukou) the movement of children has been slower than that of
adults. Though more than 50 % of the population is urban rural teachers are still
in a majority since their schools and classes are smaller. They are also the teachers
who are often working in schools where there is still drop out before completion
of grade 6 or grade 9 and where levels of achievement tend to be lower than in the
cities. How the rural teacher force remains critical to commitments to universal
access and to improve equity and quality so that the gaps between urban and rural
schools are reduced.
In this study we define rural teachers to mean the teachers working in the com-
pulsory education stage in designated rural areas, particularly referring teachers
working the townships and villages schools below the county levels, although
some of them may live in the county town. Rural teachers are an educational phe-
nomenon with unique characteristics different from urban teachers often working
in more difficult circumstances with fewer resources. Rural teachers accounted for
are the main body of the whole teaching force in China. In 2001, there were about

Chapter 5

Rural Teacher Issues

© Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2016
L. Wang and K. Lewin, Two Decades of Basic Education in Rural China,
New Frontiers of Educational Research, DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-2120-6_5