On the essential attributes and non-essential characteristics of compulsory education: 1986, China officially promulgated the Compulsory Education Law, striving to realize the largest compulsory education in the world in a big country with a population of more than 654.38 billion. In the past ten years, the popularization scope of compulsory education in China has been greatly expanded, and the quality and efficiency have been greatly improved. However, due to the weak original foundation and insufficient actual supply capacity, there are many difficulties in popularizing and improving compulsory education in China, and a series of hot issues have emerged, such as rural students dropping out of school, teachers' salaries being owed, urban parents wishing to "choose schools" and schools charging too much without authorization. In popularizing compulsory education, we are a backward country, not only one or two centuries behind developed countries, but also thirty or forty years behind many developing countries. However, in the course of more than ten years, we have almost encountered various problems that have appeared in other countries at different times, such as starting, development and stability. Comparing the practice of compulsory education in various countries in the world, we have common experiences and problems, but also have special contradictions determined by their respective national conditions, which need to be investigated and analyzed in theory and policy as a whole. What is the essential attribute of compulsory education? What are the non-essential characteristics of compulsory education? Clarifying these understandings is conducive to scientifically grasping the legal basis and policy orientation of compulsory education in China, and then providing sufficient theoretical basis for adjusting macro-educational decision-making. First, the essential attribute of compulsory education and the practical significance of compulsory education laws and regulations. The actual situation of compulsory education in countries all over the world shows that it is the most universal basic connotation of compulsory education in the world that the government determines by law to popularize basic education for all school-age children and adolescents in a certain period of time. This connotation reflects that compulsory education has three essential attributes different from non-compulsory education, namely universality, compulsion and publicity. First, the popularization of compulsory education embodies the fundamental purpose of implementing compulsory education. Although the time when countries around the world announced the implementation of compulsory education is very different, the purpose is basically the same, that is, to improve the scientific and cultural quality of their own people, promote economic and social development and progress, and enhance comprehensive national strength. Universal education can best embody the basic purpose of compulsory education, which is essentially different from selective education and elite education. In the national educational structure system, compulsory education is a relatively independent category, not just a simple preparation stage for further studies. Therefore, compulsory education should be oriented to mass education and universal education, reflecting the educational concept of "teaching without distinction"; In terms of educational content, we should focus on citizen quality education and basic cultural education and carry forward the spirit of the times of "all-round development"; In the mode of running a school, it is necessary to form a basic pattern of standardized education and standardized education, take effective measures to eliminate the gap between schools, and maximize the ideal pursuit of educational equity. However, after the promulgation of the compulsory education law, influenced by the traditional educational values, some comrades in the educational theory and administration circles emphasized the screening function of education and failed to reflect on the selective education model and elite education orientation in the previous basic education field in time, which led to some problems that were contrary to the purpose of compulsory education in educational practice: the gap in the quality level of compulsory education between urban and rural areas, between localities and between schools was too large; The admission of students by "key schools" according to scores has not been resisted, but has been widely recognized; Due to the lack of effective supporting policies and overall design, the efforts to cancel the junior high school entrance examination still face many obstacles. Examination-oriented education seems to have become a chronic disease in schools. With the banner of quality education flying high, the reform of curriculum, textbook compilation, school teaching methods and examination evaluation system has not been followed up quickly, and the behavior patterns of a considerable number of educators have not changed fundamentally. It is still of great practical significance to reaffirm the universal purpose of compulsory education and reflect the spirit of compulsory education for all students when formulating macro-education policies. Therefore, the macro policy of compulsory education in recent one or two years emphasizes the basic spirit of "running every school well and facing every student", which should run through the specific policies of compulsory education reform and development. Second, compulsory education is the legal guarantee for universal education. Popularizing basic education for a certain number of years among all school-age children and adolescents through legislation is a concentrated expression of compulsory education. The compulsory content of compulsory education laws and regulations involves many interest and responsibility groups, including children and adolescents and their parents, social labor departments and employers, and national and local governments. To implement compulsory education, we must first ensure that government actions are in place. Judging from the reality of our country, it is still the direction of compulsory education to avoid government dereliction of duty in terms of funding guarantee, teacher allocation and improving school conditions. /kloc-In the past 0/0 years, China has successfully implemented a system of local responsibility and hierarchical management for basic education, including compulsory education, which has changed the traditional management mode of over-contracting and over-unification of the central government, fully mobilized the enthusiasm of governments at all levels, schools and the people, and greatly promoted the popularization of compulsory education. Practice has proved that this reform is in the right direction and has achieved remarkable results. However, the difference of economic development among provinces, cities, counties and towns is increasing year by year, and the different allocation ability of compulsory education funds directly leads to the difference of compulsory education level in the whole country. To eliminate this gap, national and local governments at all levels should earnestly shoulder their responsibilities, improve the overall level of investment in compulsory education, and at the same time enhance the macro-control ability of the development level of compulsory education. Governments at or above the county level should strengthen the overall management of compulsory education, strive to narrow the regional gap and inter-school gap in the development level of compulsory education caused by the imbalance of regional economic and cultural development, and realize the standardized running and management of compulsory education. Thirdly, the publicity of compulsory education regulates the basic nature of compulsory education. In the initial stage of compulsory education in most countries in the world, schools run by various social groups such as churches account for the vast proportion of primary and secondary schools. Since the state actively set up schools, the implementation of compulsory education with public schools as the main body has generally gone through a long period. This is different from the situation that public schools accounted for the main body of primary and secondary schools when China's Compulsory Education Law was promulgated. However, it is worth noting that most countries, while clarifying the publicity of compulsory education, do not exclude private schools from undertaking compulsory education tasks, and allow a certain proportion of private schools to remain in the compulsory education stage. The state basically treats all aspects of education and teaching in private schools equally with those in public schools, and continues to expand its funding for private primary and secondary schools when the country's economic conditions improve. There is no obvious difference between government-funded private schools and public schools. Obviously, the publicity of compulsory education does not mean that the government, as the sole subject of running schools, should also encourage and support social organizations and individuals to invest in running schools. However, whether the school is "private" or "private", its public education attribute cannot be changed at all. "Private" does not mean "private". International education experience shows that "private" is only a term in the history of entrepreneurship for the school itself. With the development of history, the difference between public and private schools will gradually narrow. Private schools in the compulsory education stage are essentially "public and private", which is the policy basis for strengthening the management of private schools. In recent years, the "restructuring" experiment of public primary and secondary schools in some cities has only changed the operating mechanism and management system, and the ownership nature of schools cannot be changed, which is completely different from the "restructuring" of enterprises. All ordinary primary and secondary schools established with the approval of the government, no matter who is responsible for their management, are all part of the national public education system, and must implement the national educational principles and policies. Education authorities treat private schools and public schools equally, and should consider the layout and scale of private schools when formulating the development plan of local compulsory education; Private schools should have equal opportunities in training principals and teachers; Unified reward and punishment standards should be implemented in school evaluation and quality evaluation. At the same time, when formulating the special policy of enrollment fees for private schools, we should also fully consider the impact of its policy implementation on the public education system. Second, the non-essential characteristics of compulsory education and the direction of policy adjustment emphasize that universality, compulsion and publicity are the most essential attributes of compulsory education, based on practical experience. Because no matter which country implements compulsory education, no matter what stage it is in, it shows these three characteristics without exception. Some comrades believe that the implementation of free education and students' admission to schools nearby are also the basic characteristics of compulsory education. In fact, free education, non-selective education and so on are only staged manifestations in the implementation of compulsory education, which are non-essential characteristics of compulsory education. First, the free education policy should be implemented in stages, regions and circumstances. From a global perspective, countries that implement compulsory education have basically implemented free education in different ranges and degrees in the stable and mature stages, but the situation in the initial stage of compulsory education in various countries is more complicated. Some comrades think that since compulsory education is compulsory, it must be free. Actually, it is not. Germany, which took the lead in implementing compulsory education in the history of universal education in the world, took very severe disciplinary measures in the early stage of compulsory education, even including the clause of implicating neighbors. At the same time, all public and private schools charge fees, and even stipulate that school-age children have to pay tuition fees regardless of whether they go to school or not. After the free education bill was put forward, it took another 35 years for Germany to realize free compulsory education on the premise that the government greatly increased the education funds. It can be seen that compulsory education is not necessarily based on free education. Some comrades believe that the implementation of free and compulsory education in the former Soviet Union is the concrete practice of the socialist education theory put forward by Marx. In fact, the concept of free education in the former Soviet Union was forced to adjust during the economic difficulties in the early 1920s. Among the "temporary measures" it has taken, the first one is to allow urban schools to charge fees. Since then, the Soviet Union has been completely free from primary school to university, which proves from another aspect that free education is not the most essential attribute of compulsory education, but only the characteristics of compulsory education in economically developed countries at a stable and mature stage. Some comrades also pointed out that the educational equity embodied in universal compulsory education must be characterized by free. In fact, there are two different ways to achieve fairness. One is to treat all people equally, and the other is to help those who need help most. Under the social conditions of widening economic income gap between citizens, the latter can better reflect educational equity. Take the popularization of compulsory junior high school education in South Korea as an example. The scope of free education is clearly defined as starting from remote rural areas and islands and gradually advancing to small cities and big cities. It can be seen that free education is not the most common regular feature of compulsory education, nor is it the essential attribute that distinguishes compulsory education from non-compulsory education. At which stage, scope and extent to promote compulsory education, the implementation of free policy depends on the country's economic development level and the government's ability to increase compulsory education funds. At present, China's compulsory education is free of tuition fees and only collects miscellaneous fees, which is determined by China's current national conditions and strength. The problem is that the items and standards of miscellaneous fees should be standardized. Due to the stubborn idea that compulsory education is equal to free education and the failure of the education administrative department to come up with a clear and unified policy, the collection of miscellaneous fees for compulsory education has become the most irregular and irregular content in education fees, and it has become the main field of overcharging and arbitrary charges, which will inevitably greatly damage the social image of compulsory education. In economically backward areas and poor people, tuition fees for compulsory education will be exempted to the maximum extent, and practical obstacles to popularizing compulsory education will be eliminated. This wish can only be realized if the areas and people that should be accepted are collected and collected. The main purpose of compulsory education is to train qualified citizens for the country and society, and the funds for compulsory education should be mainly borne by the state. At the same time, because the knowledge acquired by individuals receiving compulsory education and their ability to further acquire knowledge have laid an indispensable foundation for their future study, job hunting and life, it is natural for individuals to bear part of the expenses in the case of insufficient national financial resources. In fact, at present, miscellaneous fees have become an important source of compulsory education funds, second only to financial allocation and education tax. The debate on whether to charge fees should obviously give way to practical problems such as how to charge fees, how to charge fees reasonably and how to charge fees appropriately. Second, the formulation of "non-selective education" policy should be based on improving the overall level of compulsory education. Some comrades believe that "entering school nearby" has been written into China's compulsory education law, which shows that this is the essential feature of compulsory education. This statement is not accurate. In China's Compulsory Education Law and Detailed Rules for the Implementation of Compulsory Education, "near school" means that the government must ensure that students can enter the school nearby when setting up schools and determining the layout of schools. This is to eliminate the unfavorable factors of popularizing compulsory education, provide convenience for children to go to school, and be a necessary norm of government behavior. However, forcing parents to send their children to designated schools non-selectively is neither a statutory policy nor the most essential feature of compulsory education. It should be said that the cancellation of junior high school entrance examination in compulsory education stage and the implementation of the policy of entering the school nearby fully meet the inherent requirements of the popularization of compulsory education. In many countries, compulsory education has undergone similar changes at a certain stage, and then it has become the staged performance characteristics of compulsory education. Clearly implementing non-selective education in the public school system generally appears in the mature and stable stage of compulsory education in various countries. At this time, the development of compulsory education has changed from focusing on wider popularization to generally improving the quality of school education. It is a necessary condition to cancel the entrance examination for junior high school and enter the school nearby by using various standardized and standardized construction measures to eliminate the quality differences between schools. Compared with other countries, compulsory education in China is still in its infancy and development stage. /kloc-the extremely difficult problem of popularizing compulsory education in the past 0/0 years has involved most of our energy. In cities and developed rural areas where nine-year compulsory education has been popularized, the strategic objectives of standardization and standardized development of compulsory education and relevant policies to comprehensively improve the overall level of compulsory education have not been put forward in time. The influence of selective and elite education thought in the past and the strengthening effect of various policies related to key schools and model schools objectively caused the imbalance of school quality level. In this context, the implementation of compulsory education without trying to enter the school nearby is bound to be resisted by some schools and some parents. A good policy aimed at reducing students' burden, strengthening quality education and facilitating children's enrollment has been distorted into an absurd excuse for charging high tuition fees without choosing a school. If the prerequisite for the implementation of free entrance examination is that the school education level is basically equal, the standardized and standardized compulsory education policies being implemented in Japan and South Korea are worth learning from. According to Korean educators, in the early 1970s, South Korea's primary and secondary schools were also divided into first-class, second-class and third-class schools. There is an obvious tendency to take exams in school education, and the competition for students' academic achievements is fierce. Therefore, South Korea decisively launched the "education equalization" policy. There are three specific measures: first, increase the investment in education funds for "unfavorable schools" and vigorously improve their school conditions; Second, teachers should move once every four years to ensure the balance of school teachers' level; Third, students' comprehensive scores, the schools that school-age children will attend are randomly determined by computers in each school district. The implementation of the "leveling" policy has effectively promoted the overall improvement of Korean education quality, weakened the school's tendency to take the exam and the fierce academic competition, and attracted the attention of international education circles. According to the research of international education experts, from a global perspective, the population decline in developed countries in the early 1970s provided a favorable opportunity for their basic education to focus on improving quality rather than popularizing education, thus paving the way for compulsory education to cancel examinations and enter schools nearby. After the implementation of the one-child policy in China, there will be population decline in many places, especially in large and medium-sized cities. Grasping this opportunity, taking more powerful supporting measures, narrowing the gap between schools in the compulsory education stage and ensuring the smooth implementation of the policy of free entrance to primary schools and junior high schools will be conducive to gradually eliminating the problems such as overweight students' schoolwork burden and serious tendency to take exams in schools, and promoting the healthy development of compulsory education in China. In recent years, the efforts to strengthen the construction of weak schools across the country have been unprecedented, and many good experiences have been accumulated. For example, education funds are tilted towards weak schools; Implement inter-school rotation or exchange between principals and teachers; Key schools are linked with ordinary schools and implement "one-on-one"; Through the experiment of "restructuring" and invigorating weak schools with the mechanism of private schools ... these are all good experiences worthy of systematic summary. In fact, it is relatively easy to change the backward appearance of some schools, and it is very difficult to narrow the inter-school gap in the region. The adjustment of relevant policies will be a long-term task. In a word, all stages of the development of compulsory education in the world are bound to be restricted by the internal and external environment and conditions of local education development at that time. The practical significance of distinguishing the essential attribute from the non-essential attribute of compulsory education lies in bringing the essential attribute into the laws and regulations of compulsory education, and supplementing the non-essential attribute with the compulsory education policy considering the social and economic conditions and the changes of educational environment in China, so as to promote the development and reform of compulsory education in China. In particular, clarifying the stages and conditions of non-essential characteristics is conducive to breaking through all kinds of restricted areas in thought, proceeding from reality, grasping opportunities and conditions in the educational situation where challenges and opportunities coexist, and adjusting educational policies in time.