97substitute teachers with a similar profile who are judged to be outstanding in pro-
fessional work and effective and conscientious who have been working in remote
schools. Local government decided to lay off them with a one-time pay off. There
appears to be unfairness in transferring substitute teachers into official teachers.
5.4 Quality of Rural Teachers
Teacher’s qualification rate and education level is one indicator of the overall qual-
ity of teachers in a district or a school. The state has recognized that the low qual-
ity of teachers in rural areas is a serious constraint on the development of basic
education in China. Now most of the country has realized universal compulsory
education, the focus has shifted from the expansion of the quantity of teachers to
raising the quality of teachers and schools.
At the policy level, the state has been continuously regulating and raising the
qualification of teachers. In 1993, Teacher’s Act of the People’s Republic of China
was released which laid out teachers’ rights and obligations, qualification and
recruitment, education and training, evaluation and treatment, and rewards and
legal responsibilities. The Teacher Qualification Regulation (1995) was an impor-
tant step in the process of teacher professionalization. It laid down that Chinese
citizen engaged in education and teaching work in different types of schools
should obtain teachers qualification according to the law. It then put forward the
specific regulations on the types of qualifications, requirement for teacher quali-
fication, examinations for qualifications, and accreditation and penalty systems at
every stage of education system. In general, primary school teachers should have
completed senior secondary or above; junior secondary school teachers should
graduate from 3-year higher education institutions or above. Both primary school
and junior secondary school teachers should pass the assessment to receive a
teacher’s certificate. Over 20 year of development the teacher qualification rate
and educational level has been improved and teachers’ overall quality has been
enhanced. This is clear in the illustrative case studies.
In Tongzhou in 1990, more than 90 % of primary teaching staff only had sec-
ondary normal school education. In 2005, over 70 % of primary school teaching
staff had 3-year higher education diplomas and over 74 % of professional teach-
ers in junior secondary schools are college graduates or have an alternative higher
education background. In senior secondary schools, 96 % of the professional
teachers are college graduates, of which 17 % have acquired a master’s degree.
The majority of teachers in complete primary schools in Xiji have acquired under-
graduate diplomas. Recently, the qualified full-time teacher rate is 100 %. In terms
of teachers’ professional title, 40 % were first class and 50 % second class and in
Dadushe about 80 % were either first or second class.
In Ansai in 1990, the qualified rate of primary school teachers was 81 % and
50 % for secondary school teachers. The qualified rate of professional teachers
was 74 % in Huaziping primary school and 80 % in Yanhewan primary school.