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Abstract
Radical reforms have been observed in the K-12 education as well as in the higher education in China since the late 1990s. With this reform, the Examination-oriented curriculum in elementary and secondary school settings was replaced in most places by quality education with a focus on cultivating critical thinkers, problem solvers, and independent, lifelong learners rather than deferent students. Likewise, the entrance examinations to higher education also experienced changes in the past two decades including the increased entrance exams per year, the changes in the examined subjects and the admission system, the expansion and merging of higher institutions, and the establishment of private colleges and universities. Challenges still exist, however in the K-12 as well as higher education, including the insufficient funding for K-12 education, administration issues of the merged institutions, and the regulations of the private higher institutions.
Compulsory Education Law and Its Impact on K-12 Public Education
Issues Existing in K-12 Public Education
In the People's Republic of China, education is a state-run system managed by the Ministry of Education (Education in People's Republic of China). The Compulsory Education Law (also known as the nine-year compulsory education regulation) issued in 1986 mandates all children who have reached the age of six, irrespective of gender, ethnicity, or race, to receive compulsory education for the stipulated number of years. However, this law does not legislate the funding for public elementary and secondary education. Governmental ministries, such as the "Treasury sources (including educational appropriation by financial departments at various levels, town-and-countryside educational surtax, expenditure contributed by businesses for running-in house primary and middle schools)" (Yang 2) provide some funding for primary and secondary education. Students are obligated to pay for the incidentals and textbooks; for example, the cost for primary school students is approximately 100 RMB yuan per term, and for junior middle school students, it is around 200 RMB yuan per term (Yang). Although the cost is not high, it is still too much for families who have agricultural registered permanent residence in remote areas (Yang). So, many families still cannot afford the nineyear compulsory education for their children.
There is still a "significant insufficiency of funds for compulsory education" (Yang 5) in China. This causes serious facility issues such that "there...