On the one hand, based on the development reality of nine-year compulsory education in China, it is more practical to lay a solid foundation than to include high school in compulsory education. Because the overall development level of compulsory education is not high, the difficulties and problems faced by the central and western regions are more prominent, and there is still a long way to go to promote the balanced development of urban and rural integration. Compared with bringing senior high school into compulsory education, the most important task at present is to consolidate and improve the level of nine-year compulsory education and promote the balanced development of compulsory education.
On the other hand, based on the development reality of high school education in China, it is more realistic to promote popularization than to include high school in compulsory education. Focusing on the strategic goal of "achieving a higher level of universal education", it is an urgent task for senior high school education to further strengthen popularization. If high school is to be included in compulsory education, it means that high school education should be compulsory, free and universal at the same time, which is obviously not available at present.
First, judging from the requirements of "obligation", it is not yet possible to make high school education a compulsory education. Compulsory education is compulsory education for all school-age children and adolescents. If high school is included in compulsory education, it is bound to require junior high school graduates to receive high school education after completing their junior high school studies. Judging from the overall situation of high school education development, we still need to make great efforts to solve the problems of low level of funding guarantee and serious shortage of high school education resources in some places. Whether junior high school graduates can choose their own education and employment without mandatory constraints is worthy of attention, even though high school education resources are already abundant. This is also a problem worthy of in-depth study. Most countries in the world have not included high school in compulsory education, so this factor has been considered.
Second, judging from the requirement of "free", the conditions for realizing comprehensive free high school education are not yet available. At present, China's high school education funds are generally insufficient, and the task of "filling the shortcomings" is still very arduous, and there are still many places for capital investment. For example, public funds in high schools are generally insufficient, and it is even difficult to maintain the normal operation of schools in some places. The debt burden of schools is heavy, and the development of high school education still faces great difficulties. It is precisely for this reason that the "Attack Plan" proposes that all localities should improve the financial input mechanism and promptly establish and improve the per capita funding system for secondary vocational schools and the per capita funding system for ordinary high school students. According to the requirements of the non-compulsory education stage, we should determine the tuition standard, strictly adjust the procedures, establish a dynamic adjustment mechanism, and share the education cost reasonably. All localities should formulate debt repayment plans for ordinary high schools. As far as free high schools are concerned, it is impossible to promote free high schools at the national level overnight, which requires overall design and step-by-step implementation. During the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan" period, for the first time, ordinary high schools were exempted from tuition and miscellaneous fees for students with financial difficulties in filing cards, which reflected such an idea. It is also a realistic choice to use limited education funds for the most difficult and urgently needed groups and fields.
Even if free high school education is implemented in some places at present, it does not mean that high school should be included in compulsory education, because the extension of compulsory education requires legislative procedures. At the same time, to promote high school free from the local level, we should be realistic and not eager to achieve success. As Minister Chen Baosheng said at the press conference held at the press center of the Fifth Session of the 12th National People's Congress, we are still in the primary stage of socialism, and we should proceed from the greatest national conditions in the primary stage and not do anything beyond the development stage. Whether it is free or not, we should proceed from reality, do what we can, make precise efforts and ensure fairness.
Third, from the requirements of "popularization", we still need to overcome difficulties to achieve the goal of popularizing high school education. Although the popularization level of high school education has been continuously improved in recent years, the popularization task is still arduous, which is highlighted as follows: the popularization level of high school education in some places is still low, and there is still a big gap between many places and high-quality popularization. To achieve the goal of popularizing high school education as scheduled and truly achieve high-quality popularization, we must identify outstanding problems, focus on weak links, and concentrate on ensuring basics, filling shortcomings and promoting fairness. The plan for tackling key problems has made specific arrangements on how to do a good job in tackling key problems and promoting them, and requires new breakthroughs in expanding resources, optimizing structure, improving quality and perfecting mechanisms.
In short, universal education and compulsory education cannot be equated. Promoting the popularization of high school education is not to extend compulsory education; After overcoming difficulties and achieving the goal of popularization as scheduled, high school will not become compulsory education, so we must have a clear understanding and grasp.