169secondary (grade 7–9), central primary (grade 1–6), complete primary (grade
1–6), and incomplete primary schools (grade 1–3 or 4).
The research focused on the following aspects: (i) timely access of school-age
children to schools; (ii) out of school children and dropouts; (iii) overall school
planning and rearrangement in the context of decline of school age children
and development of boarding schools in rural areas; (iv) the disadvantaged chil-
dren’s education including migrant children, girls, left-behind children, orphans
as a result of AIDS problem; (v) rural school infrastructure; (vi) rural teachers
and management and supervision mechanism. Based on the empirical study, the
research group reflected on the new emerging problems and challenges of achiev-
ing balanced development of education.
When the team returned to the case-study areas in 2010 after 20 years, the three
places had all been transformed by the radical changes in China. Wherever possi-
ble, the research group intended to go back to the same district and same schools.
However there were some major adjustment in school mapping and distribution as
a result of social economic and demographic change. Dramatic changes had taken
place in the number of school age children both because of the falling birth rate
and because of migration related to employment opportunity.
The policy response to falling enrolments by the Chinese Central Government
first recognized the need to adjust the location of rural compulsory education
schools to reflect changing local conditions in the Decision on the Basic Education
Reform and Development of State Council issued in 2001. This new policy trig-
gered the development of school location analysis and mapping at different levels
of local government across China, building on work already taking place in some
advanced jurisdictions like Beijing which had experience of school mapping.
School location and types of provision have changed very considerably in the case
study areas and it is to a more detailed examination of these changes that we now
turn using the data available.^1
8.3 Demographic Changes and Falling Numbers
of School-Age Children
The one child policy has resulted in a dramatic decrease in the birth rate in China
since the 1970s. The birth rate in 1994 was 17.7 ‰ compared to 33.4 ‰ in 1970,
a fall to 50 % of its former value. The natural population growth rate had dropped
to 11.2 % from 25.8 % over the same period. China experienced its fastest ever
rate of urbanization during the 1990s: the number of cities increased from 517
(1992) to 663 (2000); the number of townships (zhen) increased from 10,587 to
(^1) It was not possible to replicate all the analyses across all three case studies as a result of differ-
ent quality and availability of historic records showing changes in enrolments and school types.
Nevertheless, many trends can be identified and the direction of travel of changes is generally
evident.