Two Decades of Basic Education in Rural China

6 1 Introduction to the Development of Basic Education in China

Enrolments and enrolment rates are unevenly distributed across provinces.
Structurally there are large differences in the proportion of children at different
levels of the education system. This is shown in Fig. 1.3. Here it can be seen that
Beijing, Shanghai, and Tianjin all have relatively few primary school children
and large numbers of higher education students. At the other extreme are Tibet,
Guizhou, Hainan, and Yunnan where well over 50 % of all enrolments are in pri-
mary schools. This reflects overall enrolment rates and the demographic and socio;
economic characteristics of the provinces.
Other variations are important. Pupil teacher ratios vary widely between
schools and administrative areas. On average the ratio is about 20:1 at primary
level and 17:1 at junior secondary across China. These ratios appear to have fallen
since the 1980s when the averages were about 28:1 and 20:1. Since then many

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Fig. 1.1 Enrolments from 1978 to 2012. Source: State Education Commission Statistics various
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Attainment Profile 15-19Years Attainment Profile 20-29 YearsAttainment Profile 30-39 Years

Fig. 1.2 Education attainment for three age groups. Source DHS survey data 2010