EDUCATION IN CHINA

Chapter 1 – Organisation and management of education in China
distributed is delineated in several official documents.
However, within the approved amount of performance
salary, each school can allocate independently.
The performance salary of compulsory education is
composed of a basic part and a bonus part. The basic
part of performance salary makes up about 70% of the
total amount of performance salary, and is determined
by factors like regional economic development level, local
price level and job responsibilities. The specific standard
of allocation is determined by the personnel department,
finance department and education department of local
government at the county level and above. The basic
share of performance salary is paid monthly, for the
most part. The bonus component of performance salary
amounts to 30% of the total, and is mainly related to
workload and actual contribution. Allocation of the
bonus part is based on appraisal, and determined by
schools themselves. Based on the actual situation in
schools, items like allowances for class teachers, subsidies
for teachers in rural schools, allowance for extra class
hours and bonuses for outstanding achievements are
components of the performance salary.
As for the allowance component, it mainly stands
for allowances for teachers working in remote and
underdeveloped areas, as well as allowances for special
positions. The standard for allowances is developed by
the central government and is uniform nationwide. The
allowance for special positions of teachers in primary and
secondary schools is composed of seniority allowance,
senior teacher allowance, special education allowance
and school reform allowance.
Student affairs
ADMISSIONS
The Compulsory Education Law stipulates that nineyear
compulsory education should be basically universal
in all urban and rural areas of all provinces and for all
ethnic minorities. However, providing and legislating
compulsory education does not necessarily lead to the
immediate eradication of education inequalities. Because
of key school policies where selected “good” schools are
given privileged resources, as well as the long-term lack
of educational investment in rural areas, educational
resources are unevenly distributed. In order to guarantee
equal opportunity, the neighbourhood attendance policy
dictates that students enrol in schools in their districts.
But many families get around this policy by purchasing
apartments near good schools or by using other means. At
the same time, China’s economic development has caused
massive migration, which has created new problems for
the neighbourhood attendance policy. When families
migrate, migrant children must change schools. The
neighbourhood attendance policy can make it difficult
for migrant children to enter schools in new districts. In
response to this issue, local governments have adopted
a series of measures according to the Compulsory
Education Law to make sure that every child can have
access to compulsory education. For example, following
the 2003 Notice of Improving Education of Children of
Rural Migrant Workers, local governments prohibited state
schools from charging additional fees for migrant students.
Recently, more policies have been issued to implement the
neighbourhood attendance policy more thoroughly. Such
policies have forbidden entrance exams for compulsory
education and outlawed fees for school choice. Lawmakers
have also developed open enrolment processes in order
to guarantee a fair admissions system. At the same time,
more specific strategies have been developed to ensure
high-quality and balanced development of compulsory
education throughout the country.
STUDENT ENROLMENT AND THE STATUS
INFORMATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
In 2010, the Ministry of Education began to build a
national standardised student enrolment and status
information management system. The system assigns
to all students an enrolment number linked with his
or her identification number (ID). Information about a
student’s whole education process is recorded in the
information system with this ID. By preventing counterfeit
enrolment information from entering the system, and
by curbing repeated registration in different provinces,
this information system also helps officials make policy
decisions, as well as monitor and administer the education
system. For instance, through this system the Ministry of
Education can easily obtain precise student statistics
for one district, and even one specific school. This helps
the Ministry make budget appropriations decisions and
monitor educational spending. The information system is
also available on line, which provides a great convenience
to parents applying for school transfer. Officials use the
system to help promote fair and open management of
education in China.
22 – EDUCATION IN CHINA: A SNAPSHOT © OECD 2016