Editor's note: Following is a transcript of an interview by our staff reporter with Zhou Ji' Minister of Education， on a range of questions concerning China's education. These include how China is reforming its education system' what the Chinese Government has done to protect the right of citizens to education' as well as the investment made by the state in education.

Balanced Development

Question: China remains a developing country and is also the most populous in the world' hence the arduous task of the Chinese Government to make the nine-year compulsory education available to all school-age children. Would you give us an account of the progress China has made in this regard?

Answer: Back in the early 1990s' the Chinese Government decided to make the nine-year compulsory education basically available across the country by the end of the 20th century. To achieve this goal' it has adopted a range of policies and principles that have proved effective in promoting compulsory education. In the countryside' a new system of administering compulsory education has been implemented in an all-round way. Under this system' local governments take the responsibility under the leadership of the State Council' with the powers of administration properly assigned to government authorities at various levels while letting county governments take the main responsibility. The government has invested more in compulsory education in rural areas. While reforming the existing rural taxes and administrative charges' it has carried out' in real earnest' a range of policies designed to ensure supply of funding for compulsory education and help poverty-stricken areas improve local schools. Moreover' children from poverty-stricken families are entitled to reduction or exemption of fees charged by their schools' so that they will be able to complete the nine-year compulsory education to which they are entitled.

By the end of 2002' the nine-year compulsory education had become universally available in areas with 85% of the country's entire population' up from around 40% in the early 1990s. Some 99.1% of China's school-age children were in school at the end of 2000' up from 96.3% in 1990. More than 85% of the primary school graduates were able to continue studying at junior middle schools' against 66.7% ten years ago. These figures suggest that the Chinese Government has attained the projected target of making primary education basically available in the country' and has made positive responses to the call of the 1990 World Conference on Education for All in Thailand for 'providing basic education to all children' youths and adults'.

We need to acknowledge that there are conspicuous problems with compulsory education in China. Compulsory education is yet to become universally available in 400 counties' and for some of the counties and cities where the nine-year compulsory education has become basically available' the task of consolidating and improving what has been achieved remains arduous. Our teachers need to continue improving their competence. We need to invest even more in education. To sum up' we need to work hard over a long period to come to ensure the availability of the nine-year compulsory education to all eligible children.

Q: It is known to all that the gap remains great between China's eastern and western regions and between the town and countryside in development of compulsory education. What does the state plan to do to narrow it?

　　　　　
Zhou Ji, Minister of Education

A: The Chinese Government is seriously concerned with this problem. It has taken a whole range of measures to solve it. In September 2003' the State Council called a national work conference on rural education' at which five measures were adopted to this end. First' it called to ensure that in five years beginning 2003' the nine-year compulsory education would become basically available in areas that together furnish at least 85% of the entire population of the western region and reduce the region's adult illiteracy rate to less than 5%. Areas where the nine-year compulsory education has already become basically available' in particular those in central and western China' are obliged to consolidate this achievement and improve the quality of education' so that by 2010' the overall quality of education there will be significantly improved. Second' efforts will be made to ensure full implementation of the system that enables county governments to take the main responsibility for compulsory education in rural areas. At the same time' a mechanism will be set up whereby to ensure supply of funding for rural education. Third' reform of the personnel system for rural primary and middle schools will be deepened to make teachers there more competent for teaching. Fourth' we will work energetically to promote IT application in rural schools and ensure implementation of a program to spread modern long-distance education in rural primary and middle schools. Fifth' more assistance will be given to students in poverty-stricken areas and from poverty-stricken families. We will continue to encourage schools in relatively developed eastern areas to assist schools in poverty-stricken areas in the western region in their development and schools in large and medium-sized cities in the western region to help schools in poverty-stricken areas in their own provinces' autonomous regions and municipalities. At the same time' we will develop a mechanism whereby areas in the relatively developed eastern region are assigned to help poverty-stricken counties in the western region and large and medium-sized cities to help poverty-stricken counties in their respective provinces' autonomous regions and municipalities. We will also encourage donations from all sectors of society to help poverty-stricken areas in developing education.

Q: The quality of education is far from being satisfactory in some schools in Chinese cities. Would you comment on this?

A: This problem can be attributed to both historical reasons and problems currently faced by China's educational system' and it takes time to overcome it. Right now' we need to do the following: First' large and medium-sized cities should' by proceeding from local conditions' develop a set of standards for the management of primary and secondary education. At the same time' we should invest more in schools where the quality of education is not satisfactory to help them meet such standards. Such schools' on their part' should be helped restructure their leading bodies' enhance the competence of their teaching staff and improve their assessment on job performances of teachers. The distribution of schools in large and medium-sized cities should be improved for the same purpose. Second' governments at various levels and their education departments are obliged to formulate annual plans for improvement of such schools and set the targets to be achieved for each year' so that such schools will be improved as quickly as possible. Third' governments at various levels and their education departments are obliged to improve their oversight of schools where the quality of education is not satisfactory' and make work in this regard as an important yardstick for assessing officials' job performance. Fourth' governments at various levels must strive to acquire more quality resources of education to satisfy people's demand for education of good quality. Fifth' we will continue working to standardize the management of schools. We will strive to ensure that students eligible for compulsory education can go to schools nearest to their homes. Government-run primary and middle schools and kindergartens with a good reputation for the quality of teaching must not be changed into private schools merely to impose more charges on students' families.

Q: Would you elaborate on the progress China has made in eradicating adult illiteracy' the standard for determining whether an individual adult is no longer illiterate after learning' and what the government has done to wipe out illiteracy among women?

A: Ever since 1990' the international anti-illiteracy year' the Chinese Government has spared no effort to realize its commitment under the World Declaration on Education for All and cut the illiteracy rate by half on the basis of how things stood in 1990. According to the 1990 and 2000 national population census' the number of adult illiterates' or illiterates aged 15 and older' dropped from 182 million to 85 million' and the adult illiteracy rate' from 22.23% to 8.27%. During the same 1990-2000 period' the number of illiterates in the 15-50 age group went down from 61.71 million to 20.44 million' suggesting a decrease from 10.34% to less than 5% in the illiteracy rate for people in this age group. China stands out as the most remarkable among the 40 countries listed in a report published on September 4' 2003 by the UIS of the United Nations Educational' Scientific and Cultural Organization that reviews anti-illiteracy achievements made over the past decade.

We have formulated a set of standards to determine whether an individual is no longer illiterate after learning by proceeding from the actual needs of the urban and rural population in production and daily life and from a lot of computation based on our investigations. Employees of enterprises and institutions in cities able to read and write 2'000 Chinese characters are considered no longer illiterate' and for people in the countryside' the standard is set at 1'500 Chinese characters. In both cases' the learner can read simple newspaper articles' do simple accounting and write simple practical writings.

The Chinese Government attaches great importance to eliminating illiteracy among women. Effort to eliminate illiteracy among women' as a matter of fact' has always been the focus of the nationwide anti-illiteracy campaign. Thanks to an anti-illiteracy campaign launched jointly by the Ministry of Education and the All-China Women's Federation' China has seen a sharp reduction in the illiteracy rate among women. To be precise' women account for 62% of the 50.4 million former illiterates who have become able to read and write after learning. During the 1990-2000 period' the number of adult women who were illiterate dropped from 127.25 million to 61.81 million' and the illiteracy rate for the Chinese women' from 32% to 13.5%. The difference between the illiteracy rates for men and women was computed at 19 percentage points for 1990. By 2000' it had been narrowed to 8.5 percentage points. In 1990' 44.43 million Chinese women aged between 15 and 50 were unable to read and write and by 2000' the number had dropped to 15.03 million. During the same 1990-2000 period' the illiteracy rate for women in this age group went down from 14.78% to 4.21%. To sum up' the illiteracy rate for women has kept dropping' at a pace faster than for the entire Chinese population.

Q: Private schools constitute a part of China's educational system. Would you elaborate on those measures taken by the state to encourage a simultaneous development of private and government-run schools?

A: China has made good progress in developing private education since the state policy of reform and opening up to the outside world became official in the late 1970s' particularly over the past decade. Private schools have become an indispensable part of our educational system. The state has taken a whole range of measures to create a social environment in which government-run and private education can develop simultaneously.

First of all' under the Law for Promotion of Private Education of the People's Republic of China' private schools enjoy the same legal status as government-run schools. The law allows the same rights to founders' teachers and students of private schools as to their counterparts of government-run schools in terms of taxation' school attendance and entry of students into higher schools.

Second' the Government takes pains to standardize the management of all schools in order to ensure fair competition between schools run by the government and private schools.

Citizens' Right to Education

Q: As you know' increasing numbers of rural people have left their native places for jobs in cities and' as a result' education of their children has become an increasingly conspicuous problem. What has the Government done to resolve the problem?

A: To effectively resolve this problem' the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Public Security jointly issued the Provisional Methods for Facilitating Schooling by Children in the Migrant Population in March 1998. In May 2001' the State Council published the Decision on Reform and Development of Elementary Education and then' in September 2003' the Decision on Further Strengthening Work of Rural Education. These documents provide that governments shall take the main responsibility for education of migrant rural workers' children and government-run primary and middle schools' for their schooling' with a view to ensuring the legal right of such children to the nine-year compulsory education. To be specific' governments of cities are obliged to include education of migrant rural workers' children into their plans for development of social undertakings and let schools with relatively large numbers of migrant rural workers' children be covered by their urban infrastructure development plans. Local financial authorities' on their part' must subsidize schools with relatively large numbers of migrant rural workers' children. A part of the money raised through collection of the urban education surcharge should be used to subsidize compulsory education for migrant rural workers' children. Children of poverty-stricken migrant rural workers shall be entitled to grant-in-aid' exemption or reduction of the school fees and free textbooks.

Q: What does the state do to protect the right of ethnic minority people to education?
A: China has 55 ethnic minority groups' with a combined population of 106 million' accounting for 8.41% of the country's entire population. The Government has spared no effort to promote education among them. Thanks to this' the number of educated ethnic minority people has grown year after year. The average illiteracy rate has dropped to well below 15% for ethnic minority people in the 15-50 age group' and for seven ethnic minority groups including the Korean' Man' Hazak and Mongolian' it is now lower than the average for the nation.

The state has always given priority to development of education among people of ethnic minority groups. A special fund is earmarked in the central government budget for use to assist ethnic minority groups in overcoming special difficulties they meet in developing education. Priority is given to ethnic minority areas in allocation of other funds for education. Provinces' autonomous regions and municipalities are obliged to run schools special for students of ethnic minority groups' or set up classes special for them in ordinary schools. Students of ethnic minority groups enjoy a range of policy privileges in enrolment. The government policy calls for appropriately reducing the admission marks for ethnic minority candidates in entrance examinations for schools of higher learning' and letting those who have been enrolled attend preparatory courses before taking full college education. It also calls for fixing the number of ethnic minority students to be enrolled from each area' who are expected to go back to their native places and work there after graduation. Ethnic minority students with the same marks as their competitors of the ethnic majority Han receive priority in getting enrolled. Preparatory and full college classes special for ethnic minority students are now found in more than 100 schools of higher learning in the country' which together enroll 12'000 students every year. At the end of 2002' nearly 20 million ethnic minority students were studying in regular schools across the country.

According to the Education Law and Law of Compulsory Education' schools and other institutions of education with ethnic minority students forming the majority of the student population should use the students' own languages in teaching' or the common languages spoken in their respective areas. At present' teaching is conducted in 11 ethnic minority languages including the Mongolian' Tibetan and Uygur. Textbooks in 29 languages spoken by 21 ethnic minority groups are published every year' which are under well over 3'500 titles. We need to note that minority ethnic groups other than these 21 have no written languages.

Q: What does the state do to ensure equal rights to the disabled to higher education?

A: The Law on Protection of the Disabled and the Regulations Concerning Education of the Disabled oblige schools of higher learning to enroll disabled students provided they meet the academic standards for admission' and on no account must schools reject disabled students simply because of their disability. To effectively guarantee that disabled students truly enjoy this legal right' provincial' autonomous regional and municipal associations of the disabled are involved in work related to college entrance examinations and enrolment.

Q: What measures the state has taken to ban corporal punishment of students by their teachers?

A: There have been isolated cases in which students are physically punished by their teachers. Meanwhile' we need to bear in mind that corporal punishment of students by their teachers is not allowed under Chinese laws' and it also goes against the disciplines teachers are obliged to abide by. The Law of Compulsory Education prohibits teachers from physically punishing their students. According to the Teachers' Law' teachers who have physically punished their students and refused to mend their ways will be disciplined or fired' and those involved in cases serious enough to constitute crimes will have their criminal responsibilities pursued in accordance with the law. Legal knowledge is listed as a compulsory course in programs for training of teachers and for their advanced or continuous study. We are working hard to institutionalize a mechanism whereby teachers are morally sound and law-abiding. Meanwhile' we are intensifying our effort to ensure prosecution of wrong doings committed by teachings in violation laws and disciplines and against the legitimate rights and interests of students. Moreover' we are formulating a set of regulations on protection of such rights and interests.

Q: Would you comment on those work-study programs in primary and middle schools?

A: Primary and middle schools may launch such programs. According to the State Council's Provisional Regulations Concerning Work-Study Programs in Primary and Middle Schools' such programs must be meant to promote the integration of school education with production and other social practices and help students foster a correct attitude towards labor and enhance their ability to do practical things. A portion of the incomes generated through such programs should be used to improve teaching facilities in schools and the fringe benefits for teachers and students. Moreover' the regulations provide the scope and conditions for participation of primary and middle school students in physical labor and in particular' strictly ban their involvement in production of goods that are poisonous or harmful to their health' as well as explosives.

The Ministry of Education obliges primary and middle schools to include their work-study programs into their regular teaching plans' and bans unauthorized increase or decrease in the time spent on such programs. Students should be engaged mainly in community-based service work that suits their physical and psychological conditions. Safety of students must be guaranteed' and the regulations strictly ban participation of students in productive operations that are poisonous' dangerous or harmful to their health and in physical labor too heavy for them. In recent years' the Ministry of Education has' jointly with other central government departments' conducted inspections into how well the physical and psychological health of students is protected and prosecuted a number of units and individuals for illegal use of students in physical labor that did harm to their health.

Q: Is there any ideological indoctrination in Chinese schools? Does this adversely affect China's school education?

A: I don't think it is proper to use the formulation 'ideological indoctrination' in reference to China's school education. Chinese schools conduct ideological and moral education' which includes guidance for students so that they will embrace correct values. Ideological and moral education is meant to ensure that students will develop morally as a part of the national endeavor to promote all-round human development. Schools in all countries do the same thing. All countries and nations follow a kind of ideology' which is also referred as 'values.' A country or a nation invariably uses the ideology or values of its own to guide its people in their development' with a view to strengthening national solidarity.

Ideological and moral education in Chinese schools is conducted in accordance with the relevant provisions in the PRC Constitution and education laws through steps painstakingly planned by taking into account of students' cognitive and psychological development as well as the realities in their life. Primary school pupils in grades one and two' for example' have lessons on morality and life' which are meant mainly to help them foster good habits. Junior middle school students have moral lessons' which concentrate on how to properly handle human relations-the relations of individuals with other individuals' their collectives and the society in which they live in-through imparting of knowledge about morality' psychology and the country's legal system and actual conditions. Such lessons are designed to help the students learn how to live a proper life so that step by step' they will embrace those good values and become able to distinguish what is good from what is evil and what is correct from what is wrong. Philosophy' political economics and law are taught in schools of higher learning' which are meant to help the learner improve their ability to theorize their thinking and their ability to observe and analyze social phenomena and enhance their understanding of Chinese politics and the country's legal system.

Investment in Education

Q: Would you brief us on how much China invests in education?

A: We follow the strategy of “invigorating China through science and education.” Implementation of this strategy has resulted in fairly rapid increases in investment for education over the years. In 2002' the aggregate investment for education came to 548 billion yuan' 84.2 billion yuan or 18.2% more than 2001. It was 116.4% over 1997' suggesting that during the 1997-2002 period' China's investment in education increased at an annual average rate of 16.7%.

In 2002' China's educational expenditures covered by financial authorities across the country reached 349.1 billion yuan' 43.4 billion yuan or 14.2% more than in 2001 and 162.8 billion yuan or 87.4% more than in 1997. During the 1997-2002 period' such expenditures increased at an annual average rate of 13.4%.

In 2002' 311.4 billion yuan was earmarked for education under government budgets at all levels' up 20.6% over the previous year and 129.3% over 1997. During the 1997-2002 period' budgetary allocations for education increased at an annual average rate of 18.1%.

The 2002 education expenditures accounted for 3.14% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP)' compared with 2.5% for 1997' 2.59% for 1998' 2.79% for 1999' 2.87% for 2000 and 3.14% for 2001.

Q: Would you elaborate on the measures adopted in recent years by governments at various levels' particularly the central and provincial-level governments' to ensure a constant increase in investment for education?

A: First of all' efforts in real earnest have been made to ensure implementation of the policy that calls for an annual increase' in five consecutive years beginning 1998' of one percentage point in the proportion of the central government's education expenditures in the country's GDP. This has proved vital to success of the national endeavor to ensure the funding for education. The central government and most provincial' autonomous regional and municipal governments have increased their budgetary allocations for education. In implementing the one-percentage-point policy' the central government earmarked an extra 48.9 billion yuan for education during the 1998-2002 period. In comparison' such allocations for 1997 were no more than 8.9 billion yuan.

Second, governments at all levels have increased their expenditures for payment of teachers' wages. The central government has' since 2001' made transfer payments of 5 billion yuan every year to help western autonomous regions and provinces ensure payment of teachers' wages on time and in full.

Third, work is under full swing to ensure full implementation of the State Program for Compulsory Education in Underdeveloped Regions. The first phase work for implementing the program began in 1995 and ended in 2000. During this period' a total of 12.6 billion yuan was spent on promoting compulsory education there' breaking down into 3.9 billion yuan earmarked by the central government and 8.7 billion yuan in local funding. During the 2001-2005 period' the central government will earmarked an additional 5 billion yuan to ensure success of the second-phase implementation of the program' for which the concerned local governments are also making allocations. Altogether' nearly 20 billion yuan is being spent on this program from 1995 to 2005 as a part of a national endeavor for rural poverty alleviation' making it the greatest of its kind ever undertaken in China.

Fourth' a national program for rebuilding and renovation of dangerous school buildings in the countryside was launched jointly by the Ministry of Education' the former State Commission for Development Planning and the Ministry of Finance. In accordance with a decision of the State Council' the central authorities earmarked 3 billion yuan in 2001 and 2002 for implementing the program' to which local authorities also contributed. By the end of 2002' a total of 12 billion yuan had been invested in the program and rural primary and middle school buildings totaling 30 million square meters in floor space had been rebuilt or renovated.

Fifth' from 1998 to 2002' the central government earmarked 14.82 billion yuan to help the western region improve its educational infrastructure and its schools of higher learning expand their enrolment.

Sixth' under the Law of Education' governments at all levels must ensure that their educational allocations grow faster than their revenues and that their educational expenditures for each student in school increase step by step' and so do the teachers' wages and the sums directly spent on each student. In formulating economic and social development plans' they are obliged to give priority to education. Governments are also duty-bound to put aside sufficient funding for education when formulating their annual budgets. If there is any surplus' there should be a corresponding increase in investment for education.

Q: Would you give us a brief account of how the state helps children from poverty-stricken families so that they can complete their compulsory education?

A: In 2001' the Ministry of Education' the Ministry of Finance and the State Council Office for Alleviation of Rural Poverty jointly circulated a document' obliging local governments to set up funds special to ensure issuance of grant-in-aid to children from poverty-stricken families. Such funds should be increased gradually. Beginning 2001' the central government has earmarked 100 million yuan each year for a state fund used exclusively to ensure that poor children in underdeveloped areas in the western region and former revolutionary base areas will be able to complete the nine-year compulsory education. About one million children have benefited from the state fund' through grant-in-aid and reduction or exemption of school fees. Local governments have followed suit.

In 2001' the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Finance began' on a trial basis' providing primary and middle school students from poverty-stricken families in some rural areas with textbooks for free. The same year the central government earmarked 100 million yuan for the same purpose' the beneficiaries being children in counties where compulsory education was yet to become universally available. The fund doubled the following year' and in 2003' it increased to 400 million yuan. As a result' it came to cover poverty-stricken area in both central and western China. Since the second half of 2003' free textbooks have been provided to all children eligible for compulsory education in all the 56 poverty-stricken counties in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Up to now' some 17 million primary and middle school students have benefited from the program. We have decided to further increase the funding for the program and enable more children to benefit from it.

Q: What changes have taken place in compulsory education in the Chinese countryside? What measures have you planned to promote it?

A: First of all' local governments have increased their input for rural compulsory education. In 1997' 43 billion yuan was earmarked from local government budgets for rural compulsory education' accounting for 54.8% of the total funding for the same purpose. In 2002' such funding came to 99 billion yuan' 2.3 times the figure for 1997.

Second' the central government has significantly increased its support for rural compulsory education' mainly through transfer payments to help local authorities pay teachers' wages and carry out the reform of rural taxes and administrative charges to reduce the financial burden on rural families. Going hand-in-hand with such support is a steady increase in the central government fund special for rural compulsory education. In 2002' 35.9 billion yuan was earmarked from the central budget for compulsory education in rural areas. That accounted for 36.3% of the total from government budgets at all levels and the corresponding proportion of state allocations was even greater for the central and western regions.

The state will take the following measures to promote rural compulsory education over a period to come:

First' the central government has decided that from now on' any increase in state allocations for education will be used mainly in the countryside.

Second' we will press ahead with implementation of the national program to have all dangerous school buildings in the countryside rebuilt or renovated. In three years beginning 2003' the central government will earmark around 10 billion yuan each year' mainly for rebuilding or renovation of dangerous school buildings in rural areas in the central and western regions.

Third' we have launched a national program to promote modern long-distance education in primary and middle schools in the countryside. The program' which has been tried out in some selected areas' will be expanded to cover all rural areas in five years beginning 2003. Local governments take the main responsibility for financing the implementation of the program in their respective areas' and the central government will set up a special fund for promoting it. At the end of the five-year period' all rural primary schools in central and western China will be fitted with audiovisual players' complete sets of compact disks for teaching and facilities for reception of satellite TV education programs. Junior middle schools there will all have computer rooms. By then' we will have built up a nationwide remote education network that covers rural schools across the length and breadth of the country.

Fourth' we will give more aid to students from poverty-stricken rural families. We are working hard to ensure that by 2007' all students from poverty-stricken rural families will be exempted from school fees while able to receive free textbooks and subsidies for boarding' so that none of them will be deprived of education just because of financial difficulties. Both the central and local governments will set up special funds to ensure attainment of this target.

Q: Would you tell us how you do statistical computation of China's input for education?

A: We began to do systematic computation of China's input for education in 1989. Schools and other institutions of education in all provinces' autonomous regions and municipalities are obliged to fill in the Form of Primary-Level Educational Outlay jointly prepared by the Ministry of Education' the National Bureau of Statistics and the Ministry of Finance. This is done on the basis of the final accounting of their respective budgets for the previous year. The itemized reports thus produced will then go through the government authorities of education at different levels for computation' beginning at the township level and then up' until they reach the provincial-level educational authorities. On the basis of the itemized reports from the education bureaus at the city (prefecture) level' provincial-level education bureaus will work out statistical reports for the entire provinces' autonomous regions or municipalities for submission to the Ministry of Education. The ministry will analyze and check the reports from the various provinces' autonomous regions and municipalities to make sure that they are accurate' and these reports are to be re-checked by the National Bureau of Statistics and the Ministry of Finance. On that basis' a statistical report on China's educational outlay for the previous year will be produced' which is to be published jointly by the Ministry of Education' the National Bureau of Statistics and the Ministry of Finance. To facilitate public oversight' the authorities will also publish the Year-Book on China's Educational Outlay that itemizes the sources of educational funding and how funding from each source was used in the previous year.