Article 4 All school-age children and adolescents with People's Republic of China (PRC) nationality, regardless of gender, nationality, race, family property status, religious beliefs, etc. , enjoy the equal right to receive compulsory education and fulfill the obligation to receive compulsory education according to law.
Interpretation of this article is about the equal right to receive compulsory education and fulfilling the obligation to receive compulsory education.
First, the subject of compulsory education.
Compulsory education is both a national education and a basic education, so there are two key words for the subjects who receive compulsory education: one is China nationality, and the other is school-age children and adolescents.
The so-called nationality refers to the legal qualification or identity of a natural person who is determined to be a member of a certain country, and is the only criterion to distinguish between a native and a foreigner. According to the provisions of China's Nationality Law, there are four main ways to obtain China nationality: first, one or both parents are China citizens, and I was born in China and have China nationality; Second, if one or both parents are China citizens, I was born in a foreign country and have China nationality, but I have settled in a foreign country, and I was born with foreign nationality but not China nationality; Third, parents are stateless or of unknown nationality and have settled in China. I was born in China and have China nationality; Fourthly, foreigners or stateless persons who meet the statutory requirements, including close relatives of China people, or have settled in China, or have other legitimate reasons, can be naturalized in China upon application and approval. In a sense, compulsory education is an internal obligation of the state, and the object of the state obligation is its citizens. In other words, China has no obligation to provide compulsory education for foreign citizens.
School age, as its name implies, refers to the appropriate age, that is, the age suitable for compulsory education, neither too old nor too young. According to the provisions of the Compulsory Education Law, the minimum age for school-age children and adolescents to enter school is generally 6 years old, and it is 7 years old in areas without conditions. Under special circumstances, it can be extended appropriately. For school-age children and adolescents, there is no explicit provision in the Compulsory Education Law. Considering the basic nature of compulsory education and the limited resources of compulsory education, the upper age of compulsory education should be limited. In this regard, the Compulsory Education Law indirectly stipulates that children or teenagers must receive compulsory education. In practice, the upper age limit of compulsory primary education is generally 15 years old, and that of compulsory primary secondary education is generally 18 years old.
Second, equal access to compulsory education.
Equal access to compulsory education means equal access to compulsory education, that is, everyone has the opportunity to receive compulsory education. Compulsory education in China is open to all school-age children and adolescents with China nationality, and they have the right to receive compulsory education regardless of their own situation and family property. In practice, women or ethnic minorities or school-age children and adolescents with religious beliefs cannot be discriminated against when entering school and studying. Equality between men and women is a constitutional principle in our country, and it must also be implemented in the compulsory education stage. Ethnic equality and prohibition of ethnic discrimination are important constitutional principles in China, and children and adolescents of ethnic minorities should not be discriminated against in compulsory education. Citizens' freedom of religious belief is the basic right of citizens stipulated in our constitution. No social group or organization may discriminate against citizens who believe in religion or citizens who do not believe in religion. Neither society nor schools can unduly restrict the right of school-age children and adolescents to receive compulsory education on the grounds of religious belief. [Page]
The essence of compulsory education is free, but due to China's special national conditions and economic development, it is difficult for compulsory education to be free at once. However, any school that implements compulsory education cannot refuse to provide compulsory education on the grounds that school-age children and teenagers' families are financially unable to pay tuition and miscellaneous fees.
For some special children and adolescents, including school-age children and adolescents with visual disability, hearing and language disability and intellectual disability, school-age adolescents with serious bad behavior, and school-age children and adolescents who have received professional training in literature, art and sports, the state and society should also provide them with opportunities to receive compulsory education.
The second meaning of equal opportunities in compulsory education is that the quality of compulsory education should be roughly equal. Compared with other stages of education, compulsory education has the characteristics of fairness, that is, as a public product, the quality of compulsory education provided by various schools implementing compulsory education should be relatively balanced. At present, the allocation of compulsory education resources in China is not reasonable, and the quality of compulsory education, including teaching hardware and teaching software, still has gaps between urban and rural areas, between different regions and between different schools in the same region, and some gaps are not small, and there is a trend of expansion. Therefore, the revised Compulsory Education Law stipulates that people's governments at all levels should promote the balanced development of schools, narrow the gap between schools, and may not divide schools into key schools and non-key schools. Schools may not set up key classes and non-key classes.
In view of the low level of compulsory education in rural areas and ethnic minority areas, the revised Compulsory Education Law has made oblique provisions in terms of funds and teachers. In view of the fact that disabled children and adolescents need more facilities and efforts to complete compulsory education, the revised Compulsory Education Law has made oblique provisions on special education. The above-mentioned oblique provisions do not violate the principle of equality, but the proper meaning of the principle of equality.
Third, receiving compulsory education is both a right and an obligation.
Whether education is a citizen's right or obligation has always been controversial. At different historical stages, different countries have different understandings. In modern times, it is a great progress of human civilization to recognize education as a basic right of citizens and gradually improve and guarantee it. At present, in the constitutions and laws of many countries, while recognizing that education is the basic right of citizens, it is also stipulated that citizens must receive compulsory education for several years. Education is the obligation of citizens, which mainly refers to the obligation to receive compulsory education. Article 46 of the Constitution of China and Article 9 of the Education Law stipulate that People's Republic of China (PRC) citizens have the right and obligation to receive education. In the stage of compulsory education, the right and obligation to receive education are two sides of the same thing.
Accepting compulsory education is a right of school-age children and adolescents, mainly from the personal point of view. First of all, receiving compulsory education is the birthright of people. People's sociality determines that people must receive education, especially basic education, in order to obtain physical and mental development and adapt to the requirements of social development. Secondly, receiving compulsory education largely determines the degree of realization of other rights of citizens and is the basis for realizing other basic rights. For example, the realization of citizens' political rights and freedoms such as speech, publication and election depends on their level of compulsory education and continuing education. The realization of a series of rights of citizens in economy and labor is also restricted by their education level. [Page]
Accepting compulsory education is the obligation of school-age children and adolescents, mainly from the perspective of the state and society. For a country, citizens are the basic elements of the country, and the most important function of the country is to seek personal happiness and development, improve national spirit, enhance social morality, promote scientific and technological development, and realize national prosperity. To achieve these goals, we must constantly improve the quality of citizens, and it is the only way to improve the quality of citizens and let them receive education. At the same time, the state requires compulsory education as a basic obligation of citizens, aiming at enabling people to have basic production and life skills and master basic social norms, thus providing necessary conditions for citizens to fulfill other national and social obligations.