By Kristy Choi
A Teach for China Classroom in Lincang, Courtesy Hu Xiaodan
We are constantly being told that America is underperforming in education. That Asia, and China in particular, are catching up. However, for all the high-achieving, hard-working students that China churns out, there are hundreds more that are left behind. While working with the non-profit Teach for China (a Teach for America affiliate that sends recent graduates of both American and Chinese universities to teach in rural China), I have become increasingly aware of the education gap in China. It is a persistent and systemic problem. The problem begins with the rural/urban education gap. Like many other countries, rural education in China is particularly dismal. However, even if a student wanted to attend school in the city where the possibilities for higher education exponentially increase, they cannot. Teach for China maintains that some 80% of children in urban areas have the chance to go to college; that number is less than 3% in rural areas. The result? Among other reasons, rural dwellers have been increasingly fleeing to the city. However, there they run into problems that Americans would never think to worry about.
The Chinese government issues a hukou to every citizen: it is a household registration that labels what city or region a person is from. In order to buy a house, a car, or enter schooling in an area, one needs the correct hukou. That would be like everybody in New York City carrying a special license, and no one from any other state being able to move there. As more and more migrants are attracted to the opportunities in cities, hukous are increasingly a restrictive factor. The government worries that overhauling the current system would lead to an unbearable inflow of migrant workers, yet under the current system, they already come in droves. In addition to being an obstacle for migrants, hukous reveal a clear gap in the educational system. According to one study, the average years spent in schooling for those who hold hukou status in an urban area is 10.3 years compared to just 6 for those of rural status; there is a 4 year gap in education simply based on where one is born. Moreover, the Chinese government has declared mandatory education of at least 9 years — that means students in rural areas don’t even manage the minimum requirements by its own government standards. In another startling statistic, 67% of citizens with urban hukous go to high school while only 29.9% of rural hukous make it there. The hukou system makes it so that those born in rural areas with less educational opportunities are almost systematically denied the option for improvement.
The clear solution would be to shore up the rural education system. And there are a lot of places it could be improved. In rural areas, only 20% of teachers have 4-year degrees. Rural areas in China simply lack the funding and educational resources necessary to keep up. The Chinese government has been taking active measures to fix this gap. Notably, it allocates free textbooks and lunches to those who are unable to afford them and is taking steps to make education free for those in rural areas (at least for the requisite 9 years). However, there are still large barriers to success. One of the most important is the lack of qualified teachers. Chinese schools require an entrance exam and one of the main components is English. Yet, too often, the teachers themselves have a shaky grasp of the language. The Chinese government has taken active measures to confront the problem, but without the qualified personnel to teach, simply putting children in schools will not allow them to succeed.
For as much as Americans worry that Chinese education will soon surpass our own, the Chinese education system has a number of pervasive problems. If China truly wishes to step out from its developing country status and enter the world of the developed world, its education system is going to have to change.
Sources
http://www.tfchina.org/about
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/mar/15/china-migrant-workers-children-education
https://docs.google.com/viewera=v&q=cache:mArWDxXGLKMJ:www.psc.isr.umich.edu/pubs/pdf/rr11-735.pdf+education+inequality+in+china&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEEShYoFL_IQNvuuvhNWrD4E2610doyMN2sFsEVpha5tdjiKHv5QBilLdQCvEijOUpGd_JhmImLJ_TCVukL1g1BhZ3run4WFyoW-6SPWl9sEW4mympchdnIcs4rMuSFSBiE2txr0Hg&sig=AHIEtbSAH3Qf4ptzAsLQyQk4ZDQMC_Vgbg
http://www.forbes.com/sites/sap/2012/07/25/from-world-factory-to-learning-society-the-education-landscape-in-china-and-the-future-plan/
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2012-09/26/content_15783022.htm
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/cndy/2012-09/26/content_15783022.htm