International Education Guide - China - Enterprise and Advanced ...

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INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION GUIDE FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF EDUCATION FROM CHINA
published in the next two years. Students attended school for
five and a half to six days a week under the 10-year system.
The transition to the 12-year system (6+6) took place in
the early- to mid-1980s, marked by the publication of the
national curriculum for key secondary schools (six years)
in 1981 and the national curriculum for primary schools
(six years) in 1984. Many students who graduated in the
transitional period of the 1980s went through an 11-year
system (5+6).
The Compulsory Education Law, passed in 1986, stipulates
that each child should have nine years of combined primary
and junior secondary education. In the same year, the
Ministry of Education developed a new national primary
and junior secondary curriculum and course syllabuses
for the 12-year system, with standard textbooks being
published soon after.
Since 1985, the Ministry of Education has been changing
its role with regard to the compilation and writing of
textbooks and teaching materials. It still prepares the
national curriculum and syllabuses of compulsory courses,
but no longer produces standard textbooks. Instead, it
encourages the compilation of different textbooks based on the
national curriculum and syllabuses. A national textbook review
committee evaluates and approves primary and secondary school
textbooks for use all across the country. Provincial committees
evaluate and approve textbooks for use within a province.
Table 5. Curriculum, Syllabus and Textbook
National Curriculum
National Syllabuses for Compulsory Subjects
National Textbooks
Provincial Textbooks
The current national compulsory education curriculum was
drafted in 1988, published in 1992 and revised in 1994.
Nine-year compulsory education now reaches over 90 per
cent of the population (Ministry of Education, 2003). The
majority of schools follow the 6+3 pattern—six years at
the primary level and three years at the junior secondary
level—although the 5+4 pattern still exists. A growing
number of nine-year schools ( 九 年 一 贯 制 学 校 ) have been
established in an attempt to provide a more streamlined
compulsory education program.
Children start school at age six (seven in some areas). The
language of instruction is Mandarin Chinese. Schools
that recruit mainly ethnic minority students may use their
vernacular as the language of instruction.
The school year has two semesters and runs from early
September to mid-July (see Table 6). Students attend class
five days a week, a reduction from five and a half to six
days with the adoption of the five-day week in all primary
and secondary schools in fall 1995 (State Education
Commission, 1995). One class hour is 40 minutes for
primary students and 45 minutes for junior secondary
students.
The majority (98 per cent in 2003) of full-time primary
school teachers have graduated from at least a secondary
teachers school ( 中 等 师 范 学 校 ), the minimum requirement
set by the Teachers Law.
Primary school education now includes nine compulsory
courses, with foreign language increasingly offered as an
elective course (see Table 7). To receive a certificate of
graduation, students must pass graduation examinations
in Chinese and mathematics, usually designed and
administered by schools under the guidance of local
educational authorities, and must meet minimum physical
education standards.
Since the passing of the Compulsory Education Law of
1986, the junior secondary school entrance examination has
been abolished in most parts of the country. A certificate of
graduation from primary school entitles a student to enter
a junior secondary school based on proximity. Some key
secondary schools are allowed to administer competitive
examinations for admission of primary school graduates.
Junior secondary education lasts three or four years
following primary school. The national curriculum of 1992
prescribes 13 compulsory courses while allowing a small
number of additional courses to be designed by provinces or
major cities to meet local needs (see Table 8).
To receive a certificate of graduation, students must pass
the graduation examination and must meet minimum
physical education standards. The graduation examination,
designed and administered by local educational authorities
or individual schools according to provincial guidelines,
usually has six subjects:
• Chinese • mathematics
• foreign language • politics (open-book)
• physics • chemistry