Two Decades of Basic Education in Rural China

54 3 Nine Year Compulsory Education in a Poor District ...

year transferred out and less than 20 transferred in each year. Migration and trans-
fers seem to account for the bulk of attrition.
About 70 % of the graduates of Huaziping Junior Secondary School are pro-
moted to general senior secondary level and 80 % in Yanhewan Junior Secondary
School. Another 10 % of students enter secondary vocational schools. The pro-
portion was higher than that in Dadushe Secondary School in Tongzhou. Students
who reach the end of junior secondary in Ansai may be more motivated to con-
tinue to study since the alternative is most likely to be work in agriculture. In
Tongzhou and other suburbs of big cities it is possible more students want to work
after junior secondary education and make money.
Recent increases in enrolment in Huaziping at junior secondary in 2007 are
associated with the arrival of a new principal who improved the quality of teach-
ing and learning and the management and this attracted new students to enter this
school. Class sizes in this school were about the same as in 1990 and were around

50. There are however three times as many classes (15 rather than 5). In Yanhewan
    enrolment has also tripled and class size has also remained high despite recently
    falling enrolments and averages about 45.
    Over-age entry and progression remains a problem. It is due to late initial enrol-
    ment and subsequent repetition. More than half of primary children in Yanhewan
    still appear to enter school and be in grade 1 at the age of 8 or greater. In grade
    6 in the central primary school over 70 % are 13 years or older, and 35 % are
    14 years or older. Large numbers also appear overage in Huaziping though there
    is evidence that the number has been falling. Repetition occurs because of low
    achievement. It also arises because students transferred to the central primary
    schools may be made to repeat to catch up with the higher level of learning in the

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

2005/06 2006/072007/08

Enrolmen

t

Grade 7

Grade 8

Grade 9

Fig. 3.5 Enrolments in junior secondary Yanhewan