Two Decades of Basic Education in Rural China

73

used were the same. It seems that the innovation has persisted on a small scale and
has not been generalised across the schools.
Enrolments at junior secondary level are now about 7600 which can be com-
pared with 1380 in 1990—a fivefold increase. Most of those who enter grade
7 complete grade 9. Between 35 and 40 % are girls: this is similar to 1990.
Enrolments seem to have been falling since 2007 (Fig. 4.2). This is most likely to
reflect the fact that some who enrol transfer to other schools outside Zhaojue in
search of better quality schooling. Those who reach this level and drop out are a
relatively small number. It appears that about 6000 of the 12,000 in the lower sec-
ondary age group are not enrolled.
Efforts were made to establish the dropout rate. This is difficult because flows
of children through the system are uneven, especially after the 2007/8 campaign
to enrol all school age children. It is also complicated by the transfers of some
students into town schools after the scholarship examinations in grade 3, and the
transfer of others to schools outside Zhajue, in Xichang and elsewhere. No clear
records were available on these transfers.
At the most obvious level the number of students in grade 6 in Zhaojue in aca-
demic year 2009–2010 was 3345. In 2006–2007 the number enrolled in grade 3
was 6403 so about 3058 had failed to arrive in grade 6 four years later. As many as
half of those who entered grade 3 in 2006–2007 had probably left school by 2010.
It is very unlikely that all or even most of the 1150 who did not transit between
grade 3 and 4 were transferred out of the Zhaojue system altogether. If they were
transferred to schools in Zhaojue they would have been counted in the enrolment
statistics. Though there are some signs that the dropout rate may be falling in the
last three years it is too soon to establish if this is a long term trend. Thus though

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

4500

2007-08 2008-09 2009-10

Grade

Enrolmen

t

Grade7

Grade8

Grade9

Fig. 4.2 Enrolments in junior secondary

4.3 The Evolution of Nine Year Compulsory ...