74 4 Nine Year Compulsory Education ...
drop out has decreased, and more than half those who enter grade 1 probably
reach grade 6, it is far from being eliminated.
The data from Bier and Sikai District show similar patterns. Thus for example
in Bier about 3500 7–12 year olds were in school out of 4750, and this represented
about 74 % of the age group. 1250 were identified as not going to school, or at
least 25 % of all school age children. Amongst 13–15 year olds about 700 out of
1850 were in school or 38 and over 60 % were not attending. Only 6 % of 17 year
olds were still in school of which 80 % were still in primary school. From inter-
views and other data the students who transferred to other schools only accounted
for a small part of the attrition. It was thought most dropped out and sought work
inside or outside Zhaojue. The most common reasons teachers cited for drop out
were the demands for labour to contribute to household income, other household
work, and paid work outside Zhaojue. Less frequently they attributed the causes to
long distances to travel to school and family poverty and to the costs of schooling.
“School weariness” was also cited where students became bored with school work
and ceased to see it as relevant. There was a widespread feeling amongst teachers
interviewed, that some of the problems lay with the attitudes of parents who failed
to see the value of schooling and prioritized the immediate benefits of additional
contributions to household production.
There is no reliable data on how many children who have never attended
school. The numbers cannot be very large but they are not insignificant.
Fieldworkers had little difficulty locating itinerant Yi teenagers in Xichang most
of who had dropped out and some of whom had never been to school. Interviews
with orphans in Sikai indicated that some were from households where other sib-
lings had not attended school at all. There appeared not clear chain of accountabil-
ity that would ensure that all children had the opportunity to attend school. Those
who did not attend were not apparently systematically located and supported
to come to school either by schools or by village authorities, though there were
examples of initiatives taken by individuals and some communities.
In 2009 class sizes in Zhaojue averaged between 45 and 50 children. This aver-
age is misleading since many of the schools were small village schools with small
classes. Village schools average class sizes of about 30 across Zhaojue. About a
third of all classes are less than 25 children and these are all in village schools.
A third of classes are over 46 in number, half of which are in central primary
schools. The central primary schools have much larger classes and average over
65:1. In particular, grades 1–3 have over sized classes where there may be over 90
in a single classroom as Fig. 4.3 shows. In grade 3 there is a selection examination
and those who are successful are transferred to schools in the county town, includ-
ing the school reserved for Yi minority children. Enrolments drop in grade 4 and
above in the central primary school as a result. However, similar numbers of class-
rooms and teachers are allocated leading to a fall in class size.
Oversize classes are problematic since classrooms are built to hold about 50
children. Some now house between 80 and 100 children in five rows of seven
desks with three children to a desk. In strong contrast with Tongzhou children
who now have individual desks to work on. There is also a pre-school class with