Two Decades of Basic Education in Rural China

78 4 Nine Year Compulsory Education ...

separate living accommodation from other boarders which was privately spon-
sored. Though teachers noted that some orphans were more likely to lack self-
confidence, be less communicative, and be low achievers, there appeared to be no
access to specialist support that might diagnose and treat these manifestations of
potential marginalization and illness.

4.4 Teachers and Teacher Deployment

There are now 1320 primary and 360 junior secondary teachers in Zhaojue which
can be compared to 645 and 250 respectively in 1990. The number enrolled has
therefore grown faster than the number of teachers. In 1990 there were over
300 minban and substitute teachers making up as much as 32 % of all teachers.
It appears that over 200 still remain. Most teachers were young in 1990. This
remains the case with over 50 % of primary teachers and more than 65 % of sec-
ondary teachers being under 30 years old as Figs. 4.5 and 4.6 show.
Two thirds of the primary teachers were Yi nationality in 1990, and the propor-
tion has now increased to about 73 %. At junior secondary level the proportion
of Yi teachers is now 45 % and the remaining teachers are Han. Yi teachers are
concentrated in the lower grades of the primary school not least because children
cannot speak Chinese and lessons have to switch between languages. Most teach-
ers are male in a ratio of 1.5:1 at primary level and 1.9:1 at junior secondary. This
is an improvement over 1990 when less than 20 % of all teachers were female, and
in many village schools there were no female teachers.

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

Less than

25

26-3031-35 36-40 41-45 46-50 51-55

Grade

Enrolmen

t

2006/07

2007/08

2008/09

2009/10

Fig. 4.5 Age of teachers in primary schools in Zhaojue