Recently, the Ministry of Education, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the National Audit Office jointly issued "Eight Measures to Control Arbitrary Charges for Choosing Schools in Compulsory Education" (hereinafter referred to as the eight measures). The reporter interviewed the heads of relevant departments of the Ministry of Education on relevant issues.
The basis for issuing the "eight measures"
The main basis for controlling arbitrary charges in choosing schools in compulsory education stage is the Compulsory Education Law. "Compulsory Education Law" clearly stipulates that "school-age children and adolescents are exempt from entrance examination. Local people's governments at all levels shall ensure that school-age children and adolescents are enrolled in the nearest place where they are registered. " However, due to the gap between the conditions and levels of running schools in different regions, the contradiction between the people's growing demand for good education and supply is prominent, which has caused the problem of school selection and arbitrary charges, especially in some big cities. To solve the problem of school choice, we must adhere to the principle of treating both the symptoms and the root causes and comprehensive management. The fundamental thing is to vigorously promote the balanced development of compulsory education, transform weak schools, narrow the gap between the conditions and levels of running schools, and at the same time improve the enrollment policy and standardize the enrollment order. To solve the problem of arbitrary charges in choosing schools, we must constantly strengthen governance.
Now compulsory education has been brought into the category of public finance, realizing free compulsory education in urban and rural areas. The fees for choosing a school are totally unfounded, unreasonable and illegal. Arbitrary charges for choosing schools in compulsory education must be resolutely stopped.
New features of the eight measures
A: It is a task that needs to be constantly grasped to control the arbitrary charges in choosing schools in the compulsory education stage. After the promulgation of "Guiding Opinions", various localities have introduced implementation measures one after another, which has alleviated and curbed the arbitrary charges of choosing schools to some extent. However, from the recent supervision and inspection, some local governance objectives are unclear, policy implementation is not in place, and the effect is not obvious. The people still strongly reflect on the problem of arbitrary charges in compulsory education schools. It is still an arduous task to achieve the goal of "striving for three to five years' efforts to obviously alleviate the arbitrary charges in choosing schools in the compulsory education stage, so that the arbitrary charges in choosing schools in the compulsory education stage will no longer become a strong problem reflected by the masses".
These eight measures are based on the objectives, principles and requirements determined in the Guiding Opinions, and are aimed at six aspects of unreasonable fees for choosing schools in the compulsory education stage found in recent investigations. First, stop charging for entrance training classes ("pit-occupying classes"), second, stop charging for cross-regional enrollment, third, stop charging for organizing entrance examinations, fourth, stop charging for special students, fifth, stop charging for donating money to help students and entering higher schools, and sixth, stop charging for public schools in the name of private operation. Compared with the past, the requirements of these eight governance measures are more specific, some clearly put forward governance methods, and some clearly put forward quantitative requirements. This is conducive to the solid progress of governance and supervision and inspection in various places.
Governance model adopted by each measure.
These eight measures have two quantitative requirements, one is 10%. It is an ideal goal to enroll students in the nearest place of residence. This time, while adhering to this goal, in order to minimize unreasonable flow, it is planned to reasonably delineate the scope of school enrollment, and the proportion of cross-range enrollment should not exceed 10%. The following should be merged and reduced year by year, and the above should be planned for three years, and reduced to below 65,438+00% year by year. Why should we determine the index of 10%? Because an index is uncertain, it can't be tested quantitatively. It is also because there are still some special non-local enrollment situations, such as studying in a school where the residence is not the place where the household registration is located, and studying in a school near the parents' work unit rather than the school where the household registration is located. But in any case, we must resolutely prohibit arbitrary charges in the name of choosing a school.
The second is 30%. The "Measures" require that the number of high-quality ordinary high school enrollment places should be reasonably allocated to all junior high schools in the region according to the proportion of not less than 30%. Now that it has exceeded 30%, we should consolidate and improve it and gradually expand it. This is not only a summary of the practices in many areas of the country, but also a deepening of the previous principled requirements, or a new requirement for areas with low distribution ratio. This will help ease the "junior high school" school choice, because the chances of entering a high-quality ordinary high school are greater than those of attending a nearby junior high school.
As for the "pit-occupying class", it is not only inconsistent with the institutional arrangement of enrolling students nearby and determining students nearby as stipulated in the Compulsory Education Law, but also because economic interests are easy to breed corruption, it should be resolutely banned and strictly accountable.
The fee of "donating money to study" linked to enrollment is not a real voluntary donation, which does not conform to the provisions of the Donation Law for Public Welfare and should be resolutely prohibited. The "Measures" also require that certificates must be issued in accordance with the law when collecting donations, so as to facilitate the identification of "donating money for education" and collect evidence during supervision and investigation.
Regarding the prevention of enrollment and fees through any examination method, first, schools are required to abide by the exemption policy; Second, I don't want schools to organize entrance exams, let parents run around with their children, and a large number of parents and students gather around the campus, which affects traffic order; The third is to stop charging by setting thresholds for various entrance examinations.
Regarding the behavior of restricting professional enrollment and fees, it is mainly considered that students' majors should not become a means of enrollment in compulsory education, misleading parents to force their children to undergo professional training for further study, increasing their physical and mental burden, eliminating hobbies, producing rebellious psychology and affecting their healthy growth.
Successful experience of controlling arbitrary charges in choosing schools in compulsory education stage
In the stage of compulsory education, charging fees for choosing a school is not only an educational problem, but also a reflection of social problems in education. It's really not easy to control arbitrary charges in choosing schools, but people's governments at all levels and competent departments must have a clear attitude, grasp it to the end, and establish social confidence with practical results.
These eight governance measures are actually the summary and promotion of local experience, and the successful practices in various places have enhanced our confidence in solving problems. For example, Jinzhong City, Shanxi Province has fully realized 100% computer allocation and computer placement, which has eliminated the phenomenon of choosing schools. It has also implemented the allocation of 80% of the high-quality high school enrollment index to junior high schools, balanced the students, mobilized the enthusiasm and creativity of most schools and teachers, and improved the quality of education. He Yu Middle School in Yushe, located in the depths of Taihang Mountain, has "returned" 229 students who borrowed from counties and other places, with a "return" rate of 98%. A parent in Beitian Town, Yuci District said: "This year, I don't consider sending my children to study in the city. Our Beitian Middle School is also good in all aspects, and I can also enjoy the high-quality high school arrival index. As long as my children study hard, it is very promising to attend high school in Yuci No.1 Middle School or Yuci No.2 Middle School, and it also saves us a lot of troubles such as trusting relationships, paying tuition fees and accompanying students to the city. " The experiences of Tongling in Anhui and Handan in Hebei are well known to the society. These places have well solved the problem of choosing schools and generally improved the quality of education.
To control the arbitrary charges of choosing schools in compulsory education, it is the basis to constantly improve and deepen the policy, and the key is to pay close attention to implementation and perseverance. It is necessary to strengthen supervision and inspection, intensify special governance, and ensure that all localities implement the requirements of the eight measures and achieve practical results.