90 5 Rural Teacher Issues
10 million primary and secondary school teachers of whom about 55 % were rural
and another 20 % were in peri-urban areas and small towns. By 2012 the total
number of teachers had fallen to about 9 million and the number of rural teach-
ers had fallen below 50 % overall. However at primary level more than 75 % were
rural (Table 5.1).
Rural teachers are central to the success of universal 9 year compulsory educa-
tion in rural areas. However, it has always been difficult to recruit enough teach-
ers to work outside the cities and educational development has lagged as a result.
With the new policy goal of narrowing the quality gap between rural and urban
education the quality of rural teachers has become a core issue. This means both
improving the capabilities of the existing workforce and making sure that new
teachers are recruited who are motivated and qualified. A two track approach seeks
to develop rural teachers in parallel with urban teachers to accelerate moderniza-
tion in rural areas, and to respond to the specific challenges presented by the rural
environment.
5.2 Context of the Research
This chapter draws on the research undertaken in Tongzhou district in Beijing,
Ansai county in Shannxi province and Zhaojue county in Sichuan province in
1990 and in 2010. These areas were chosen to illustrate China’s comparatively
Table 5.1 Number of
primary school teachers in
rural areas (1994–2012)
Year Total Urban Rural
No. % of Total
1994 5611324 804241 4807083 85.67 %
1995 5664057 849028 4815029 85.01 %
1996 5735790 871149 4865641 84.83 %
1997 5793561 892887 4900674 84.59 %
1998 5819390 902269 4917121 84.50 %
1999 5860455 918705 4941750 84.32 %
2000 5860316 927155 4933161 84.18 %
2001 5797746 874957 4922789 84.91 %
2002 5778853 905160 4873693 84.34 %
2003 5702750 936398 4766354 83.58 %
2004 5628860 937495 4691365 83.34 %
2005 5592453 898381 4694072 83.94 %
2006 5587557 828197 4759360 85.18 %
2008 5621938 929613 4692325 83.46 %
2009 5633447 929281 4704166 83.50 %
2010 5617091 947337 4669754 83.13 %
2012 5121626 1254960 3866666 75.50 %