21given the capacity constraints and resource shortages typical of the poorest
countries and national minority areas. It was noted that the implementation of
basic education policy at a local level depended both on the regulatory structure
and policy framework provided by higher levels, and on the adequacy of the
school management and resource allocation that converts these aspirations into
reality.- Management practices that seem counter productive were common in 1990.
Thus often in the case study schools the pupils in the lowest grades had the
worst learning conditions. Class sizes were largest in the lowest grades, often
by a factor of 3 or 4 when compared to grade 5 or 6, especially in rural schools.
Where furniture was in short supply it was the grade 1 and 2 classes that had
no chairs and used piles of bricks as desks. Qualified teachers were dispropor-
tionately allocated to the upper grades. Repetition rates tended to be greatest in
the first grade, suggesting that learning was least effective at this level. Where
money was collected from pupils to assist in school expenses, it was collected
from all pupils though it seems that where investments were made in learning
resources they tended to be for the benefit of the higher grade classes. - Notwithstanding the complex and multi dimensional methods of raising revenue
and allocating resources in place in 1990, there appeared to be chronic under-
funding in Ansai and Zhaojue in relation to the achievement of basic education
goals. Though per capita funding was comparable with richer areas, this ignored
the fact that many children were not enrolled, and that the stock of infrastruc-
ture was greatly inferior. - Funding in 1990 also provided direct support for salaries only for govern-
ment teachers, though many of the teachers were minban and substitute teach-
ers depending on support from local resources earning a third of government
teachers’ salaries or less. Capitation payments for non-salary recurrent support
to schools were linked to the number of government teachers in a school further
disadvantaging the poorest areas. - Growing disparities in non-government income were noted such that Tongxian
was spending up to six times more per pupil than Ansai in the late 1980s.
Within Tongxian the ratio of cost per pupil was as much as 4:1 between dis-
tricts. Central primary schools appeared more often than not to hold on to com-
mon resources and distributed little to the cluster of complete and incomplete
schools with which they were associated. - Teacher salaries were becoming subject to performance related additions in
1990 through “structured salary schemes”. This, and differences in off budget
income, meant that teachers income in rich areas could be as much as double
their salary, whereas in poor areas little additional benefit was available. - Teacher class ratios at primary level generally varied between 1:1 and 2:1. The
lower levels were found in incomplete primary and small rural schools. At lower
secondary level the ratio was frequently around 2:1 and reached 3:1 in specially
favoured schools. This coupled with pupil teacher ratios of about 20–25:1 sug-
gested that teaching loads on some schools were relatively light with teachers
teaching about half the number of timetabled periods.
1.1 Introduction