132 6 Financing Compulsory Education in Rural Areas: The Development ...
6.3.4 Improved School Quality and Better Teaching
Conditions
Increasing amounts have been invested in improving school conditions. This is
evident in Ansai where the schools which had basic equipment and simple build-
ings in 1990 are now well equipped with up to date computer rooms and labora-
tories and clean and adequate teaching space. State norms for infrastructure and
classrooms are met or exceeded. Tonzhou had adequate levels of infrastructure in
- Now the schools also all meet or exceed the norms for the county. There are
8 computers per student available and all schools have campus networks. Other
infrastructure investment has been made in winter heating, a new remote educa-
tion audio-visual classroom with area of 95 m^2 , and public kindergartens and adult
education.
In all the case study sites the qualified teacher rate is now high though Zhaojue
still finds it difficult to recruit and retain qualified teachers, especially those from
the Yi Minority. The salary guarantee system is working ensures teachers’ sala-
ries were paid in full and on time. Salaries are now much higher than in 1990 and
are between 10 and 20 times greater in nominal terms than in 1990 reflecting the
reforms in salary structure and the increases in investment.
6.3.5 Enhanced Student Financial Assistance
The “New Mechanism” provides special subsidies to poor areas, minority areas
and disadvantage students (Yu 2007 ). The fund guarantee system pays more atten-
tion to disadvantaged groups and exempts them from tuition and other fees. It
provides free textbooks to students from poor families and living allowances to
poor students who are boarding under the policy of “two exemption and one sub-
sidy” (TEOS). In Zhaojue we found that with the implementation of “two exemp-
tions and one subsidy” (TEOS), students in rural areas didn’t need to pay tuitions
and fees, and that boarding students can get 50 yuan living allowance subsidy per
month and 10 yuan from a county allocation. The system is therefore working and
seems to have had an impact on enrolment and retention.
6.4 Remaining Challenges
Several issues remain of concern. Regional disparities persist, administrative
issues need resolution, teachers’ salaries are still less in rural areas, and central
funding may have crowded out other sources.