Shortly
after the founding of the People's Republic of China, the
Chinese government took education as a matter of primary
importance, and made enhancing the cultural quality of the people
the basis of the construction of the nation.
Before
1949, China had a population of nearly 500 million, of
whom 80 percent were illiterate. Proceeding from
reforming the educational system, the Chinese government
made an overall plan and adjusted its educational
policies, with the result that the number of students
increased rapidly. Currently, 91 percent of the
country has instituted compulsory primary education, with
nearly 99 percent of school-age children are enrolled
in schools.
The
dropout rate has decreased and the illiteracy rate of
young and middle-aged people has declined to less than
seven percent. Since the initiation of the reform
and opening policies in 1978, marked by the
restoration of the higher-education examination system,
China's education got on the road to accelerated
development.
As
one of the priorities of China's economic and social
development, education is a matter of great concern to the
government. The decisive guiding principle that
"Education should be geared to the needs of
modernization, of the world and of the future"
(Message written for Jingshan School by Deng Xiaoping on
October 1, 1983) has promoted the speedy development of
China's educational undertakings. China has attained
considerable achievements attracting worldwide attention
in education.
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According
to the latest statistics, by the end of 1998 there were
1,022 universities and colleges in China, with 3.41
million students, of which 1.08 million were the year's
new recruits; 736 graduate training units with 199,000
students, of which 73,000 were the year's new recruits;
962 adult higher-learning institutions with 2.82 million
students, of which one million were the year's new
recruits; 17,106 secondary special and technical schools
and vocation high schools, with 11.26 million students (of
which, 1.73 million were technical school students),
accounting for 55 percent of the total students in
high schools.
There
were 54.5 million junior middle school students
nationwide, with an enrollment rate of 87.3 percent;
139.54 million primary school pupils, with 98.9 percent of
the school-age children enrolled. The dropout rates
of the students of ordinary junior middle schools and
primary schools were 3.23 percent and 0.93 percent,
respectively.
There
were 2.51 million people studying in vocational secondary
schools for adults; 86.82 million persons trained in adult
technical training schools; and 3.21 million illiterate
people became literate. The cross-century period is an
important phase in China's economic and social
development.
Giving priority to the development of education is the
basis of the two major national strategies of improving
the quality of the people and rejuvenating the nation by
relying on science and education and realizing
sustained development.
As
human society enters the knowledge and information age,
education is expected to play an increasingly important
role.
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