Twenty years after the implementation of the Compulsory Education Law of People's Republic of China (PRC) (hereinafter referred to as "Compulsory Education Law"), compulsory education is finally expected to return to its original appearance-"free".
As early as 1986, the Compulsory Education Law clearly stipulated that "the state implements nine-year compulsory education" and "students who receive compulsory education do not charge tuition fees".
However, due to the long-term shortage of national investment in basic education, "compulsory education" has become a literal slogan. In an interview with Caijing (related: wealth management securities) Times, Mr. Guo, the news and propaganda department of the Ministry of Education, said frankly, "Compulsory education should actually be free, but it was not fully achieved in the past."
Therefore, in order to distinguish it from the "compulsory education" that charged in the past, a brand-new term-free compulsory education appeared.
At present, more than 170 countries in the world are implementing compulsory education system, but only China divides compulsory education into "charge" and "free".
It is gratifying that the state is determined to completely abandon the compulsory education model of charging. A few days ago, the National Report on Education for All in China issued by the Ministry of Education proposed that "free compulsory education" would be implemented in all rural areas of China by 20 10, and it would be fully popularized in 20 15.
Once free compulsory education.
It has been 40 years since the China government first proposed universal compulsory education. 1956 1 month, the Outline of the Twelve-year Education Plan issued by the Ministry of Education proposed that "compulsory education should be basically popularized throughout the country within seven years". The Eighth National Congress of the Communist Party of China held that year raised this goal to "universal compulsory education" and extended the time to 12 years.
Basic education at that time was basically a "free lunch" for the vast rural areas. With the support of policies, the primary school enrollment rate in China jumped from less than 20% before the founding of the People's Republic of China to 89% in 1965.
During the "Cultural Revolution", the establishment of people's communes to provide medical care and education greatly increased this number. By 1976, the enrollment rate of primary school-age children reached 95%.
After 1979, with the disintegration of people's communes, compulsory education, which was seriously under-invested by the state, was once again in trouble. The primary school enrollment rate dropped from 87.7% in 1978 to 68.4% in 1985, the lowest point in history since1978.
This situation immediately attracted the attention of the party and the state. 1986, the Compulsory Education Law came into being.
From charging to arbitrary charges
However, since the 1990s, the whole country has been involved in the upsurge of economic development, but the proportion of investment in compulsory education has continued to decline.
At this time, the central government will delegate the implementation of basic education to local governments, and the county and township grass-roots governments will become the main body of compulsory education funding burden. The financial resources of counties and townships with weak economy are overwhelmed, and it is difficult to bear the investment in rural compulsory education, which accounts for more than 2/3 of the national compulsory education students.
1992 promulgated
The Ministry of Education, which has been indifferent to the "educational industrialization" for many years, finally publicly stated its attitude and "resolutely opposed the educational industrialization". "Industrialization of education will ruin education in China," said Wang Xuming, a spokesman for the Ministry of Education.