Sat, Mar 11, 2006 page4

• China takes action on education

  TIME FOR CHANGE This week Beijing announced a much-needed boost to education funding, which will be especially welcome in impoverished rural areas

  • AFP
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  Missing baskets on rusty basketball hoops, classrooms without electricity -- the dilapidated scene could be from almost any government-run school in rural China.

  At this one in the central province of Anhui, the children come dressed as warmly as they can wrapped in layers of clothing and hope the rain stays away so the unpaved playground does not turn into a muddy, slippery mess.

  "On rainy days, we can't have PE class," the head teacher at Zhongjunlou Elementary School, Zheng Shijun, said.

  

  A girl reads in a dilapidated classroom at Zhongjunlou Elementary School in Anhui Province last month. With 80 percent of China's primary and middle school students living in rural areas, the nation's leaders have been forced to address poor rural education standards.

  PHOTO: AFP

  With little government funding and a reliance on the children's impoverished parents for tuition fees, the school can only afford to teach reading, math and discipline.

  Computers and musical instruments are just a dream.

  In 30 years, the school had turned out 20 students who made it to college, Zheng said.

  With 80 percent of China's 200 million primary and middle school students living in the countryside, the nation's leaders are being forced to address rural education standards as a key plank of their long-term modernization and economic growth strategies.

  At the annual session of the National People's Congress this week, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶) announced a plan to boost education funding by 218.2 billion yuan (US$27 billion) over the next five years.

  China's spending on education amounted to just 2.79 percent of GDP in 2004, far less than the world average of 4.2 percent. It plans to increase spending to 4 percent of GDP within the next five years.

  Wen also pledged to ensure free nine-year compulsory education for all rural students within two years. Rural parents would then only have to pay the costs of the books and supplies, not tuition.

  Many worry, however, that the government's plan, although well-intentioned, will fall victim to the morass of corruption and disorganization that plagues much of China's countryside.

  "China's education system is a no man's land. Schools have too much autonomy, they receive government funding, but they are not monitored," said Andy Xie, a China-focused economist for Morgan Stanley based in Hong Kong.

  Other than stipulating what textbooks must be used and the content of lessons, the government does little to monitor the quality of education.

  The Zhongjunlou school receives just one, hour-long visit a year from the county education department.

  In addition to the government-run schools, a niche privately run system has developed, despite initial opposition from authorities, because of parents demands for better education.

  One of these schools near Zhongjunlou has freshly painted classroom buildings, play equipment, a well-manicured lawn and a cafeteria and auditorium.

  The Bei Lei School also teaches piano and computer science using 20 computers.

  The cost of educating a child at Bei Lei is about 10 times that at Zhongjunlou. But at the private school, fees include room and board, as most of the students are children of farmers who have left the countryside to work in cities.

  The chairman of Bei Lei School, Li Tianwei, said the school was operating at a loss and did not receive any money from the government.

  One of the biggest obstacles -- government opposition -- appeared to have been overcome and it was even exempt from paying property taxes, he said.

  "Things are a lot better now. A few years ago, they threatened to arrest me if I didn't shut down the school," Li said.

  Back at Zhongjunlou, school principal Zhou Benkui said he was worried about the government's plan to scrap the system of parents paying tuition fees, which covers things such as building maintenance, utilities and equipment.

  "Well have to be almost completely dependent on government funding then," he said.
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