55school. Though the number of overage students is being reduced it is clear that
this is still an issue at primary level. It is also clear that repetition still occurs quite
often despite the fact that it is only supposed to occur rarely.
In junior secondary schools it appears that more than half of students are over-
age by a year or more. Huaziping 45 % of those in grade 7 are over 14 years old
and four students were identified as 19 years old. There was a five year spread of
ages within grades. In Yanhewan more than half the students are over 14 years in
grade 7 which include 21 students who are 16 years old.
Teachers interviewed were not very concerned about the concept of on schedule
schooling and progression in the right grade for age. The most common perspec-
tive was to argue that if children cannot learn well, then repeating the year will
enable them to learn better. Thus teachers, parents and administrators tended to
regard repetition as unexceptional and accepted it as normal practice. The research
identified many students who had repeated more than once, especially if they had
transferred schools. Other observations commonly made were that where there
were long distances between home and school parents worried about the safety of
their children and this resulted in waiting until the child was older to send them to
school. School mergers were undoubtedly exacerbating this situation. Even when
there was boarding available parents were concerned that their youngest children
were not old enough to be on their own.
It was not possible to locate reliable achievement data based on standardised
tests that would enable comparisons to be made with achievement levels in other
parts of China. It was possible to discuss local achievement data and gain some
insight into the issues. Pass rates in the 1990 county examinations were very low
with Huaziping scoring only 26 % and Yanhewan 7 % passes. Now it appears that
70 % or more pass in Huaziping and even more in Yanhewan. Though overall
performance has improved it is noticeable that performance in transition grades
2, 3 and 4–5 is often poorer than other grades as a result of pupils transferring
schools. Unsurprisingly though Chinese and mathematics scores have improved a
lot English has poor performance. Although a high proportion of students are pro-
moted to senior secondary school, the achievement of the students at Huaziping
and Yanhewan secondary schools is also subject of concern. The results of the
grade 9 graduation examinations indicate that students in Huaziping score more
highly than in Yanhewan which remains below average. English is the lowest scor-
ing subject not least because it is a language not heard or used in Ansai.
3.4 Teachers and Teacher Development
In 2008/09, there were 1650 teachers in Ansai, including 590 teachers in second-
ary schools, 915 in primary schools and 150 substitute teachers mainly in primary
schools. The number of teachers had fallen from 2100 in 2001 and the number of
substitute teachers had decreased from 850 in 2001/02 with the proportion fall-
ing from 40 to 9 %. In 1990 66 % of the 900 teachers were minban. Huaziping
3.3 The Evolution of Nine Year Compulsory Education