196 9 Transitions and Challenges for the Development of Basic Education
9.2.2 Age of Entry, Preschool, and Over Age Progression
The logic behind nine year compulsory education is to give every child an equal
opportunity to benefit from a quality basic education. Entering school at seven
years old rather than six is a disadvantage. At ten years old those starting at six
have had 25 % more schooling than those starting at seven. Developmental psy-
chology confirms that many basic skills are acquired most rapidly amongst
younger rather than older children. Some studies also indicate that early under
achievement is rarely recovered in, for example, reading ability. Late entry leads
to over age progression which may be exacerbated by repetition of grades as is
the case in two of the case studies. Overage children are more likely to fail to pro-
gress successfully, especially if they are two years or more behind their age group.
Those who experience pre-school are less likely to enrol late. They also have a
head start over children who do not have the opportunity to go to preschool which
is widely feel paying and thus rationed by price.
This cluster of challenges is therefore important to address. The medium term
goal should be to ensure all children enter school at the age of six whether they are
rural or urban. They should also progress and graduate largely on schedule i.e. at
12 from primary school and 15 years old from junior secondary. All high enrol-
ment countries have a low variation in age in grade and this should be realised in
China. Pre-school provision is becoming more common. If it is not to embed dis-
advantage amongst the poorest then ways must be found to subsidise access and
extend the reach of pre-schools in affordable ways. This may be premature in the
poorest counties. However, it is already the case that some rural village schools
are including pre-school grades as demography results in falling enrolments in
primary grades. This may provide an opportunity to develop initiatives that take
advantage of this opportunity.
9.2.3 Teachers
Teachers are now much better qualified in 1990. However, some substitute teach-
ers remain despite policy which has sought to place every teacher on the govern-
ment payroll and ensure they are fully qualified. This is an anomaly that should
be resolved since these teachers undertake the same work as others with far less
salary and no job security.
Teacher deployment remains very uneven. Pupil teacher ratios fluctuate
between the over generous (less than 10: 1) to the under staffed (over 45: 1).
Successful high enrolment basic education systems gradually eliminate wide vari-
ations in pupil teacher ratios to ensure all children have more similar access to
teachers. They also deploy teachers and classrooms, and arrange timetables so that
teachers work with 20 to 30 children in a class and teach for 80 % or more of
timetabled time at primary level. Schools which have pupil teacher ratios much