105In this area there are three reasons for the decrease in the number of teachers.
Firstly, the falling number of students and school amalgamation leads to a surplus
of teachers. Secondly, some better teachers do not want to stay in Xiji and want to
work in urban area. Thirdly, no new teachers are being recruited. The township has
no attraction to new teachers and many of those now teaching wanted to leave if
they could. The main reasons given are that first they want better opportunities for
their children. A young female home class teacher said: “For my child’s good edu-
cation, I always want to transfer to urban school as it is different between urban
and rural areas. As a teacher, I know the environment affects children’s growth
significantly.” Teachers try to purchase houses in urban areas so that they can get
urban residential registration that is essential to gain access for their children’s
study in urban schools. If they are successful it is very easy to lose rural teachers.
Second, teachers have ambitions for their own development. A teacher said
frankly: “For survival and development, we want to transfer to urban schools. But
this depends on opportunity and contacts.” The principal of Xiji Secondary school
said: “Due to the under development of local economy, let alone the teachers, even
I don’t want to be a principal in Xiji. If I was in Yongledian township, I can enjoy
the housing benefit provided by government. I should only pay 150,000 yuan to
purchase a house worthy 500,000 yuan. But in this township, I cannot enjoy such
benefits and should it will take 10 years to save 350,000 yuan.” Third, some teach-
ers consider the workload high and the rewards insufficient. So few new teach-
ers want to join Xiji secondary school that the township government has to recruit
new teachers from Inner Mongolia or Qinghai province.
5.5.2 Drain of Better Teachers and Lack
of Two-Way Mobility Mechanism
The movement of teachers in Tongzhou is essentially one way from rural to urban
and from incomplete to complete schools and to central schools. The best teach-
ers are more likely to find ways of moving. Very few outstanding principals or
teachers from quality schools move to village schools. Good schools become bet-
ter while weak schools deteriorate. In Zhaojue opportunities to transfer are institu-
tionalized. Rural teachers are selected to take part in yearly tests organized by the
county education bureau based on students’ achievement. If the teacher passes the
test, he or she will be recruited into the better county town schools. The exami-
nation does provide an incentive, especially for young teachers, since it enhances
their career prospects. But it is disadvantageous for rural schools suffering from
a drain of effective teachers. The mobility mechanism has a ratchet effect in one
direction and the movement of core teachers is one-way traffic.
Data on transfers of teachers into and out of schools in Zhaojue shoes that in
the 2000s most of the transfers into the schools were of new graduate teachers.
The transfers in and out were balanced over most of the period but with a tendency
for the transfers out to increase in the later 2000s. A series of policy initiatives
have addressed the problems of a lack of two way mobility (Table 5.4).
5.5 Mobility and Stability of Rural Teachers