Zhihu's original text is as follows:

The new semester is just around the corner, and another formal high school is free of tuition.

On August 15, Changtai District, Zhangzhou City, Fujian Province issued a notice saying that it decided to implement the free high school program from the fall semester of 2023, which attracted attention.

The staff of the Education Bureau of Changtai District confirmed to China Newsweek that the relevant documents have been issued in the district and will be implemented after the start of the autumn semester.

According to the circular, the free range includes high school students studying in schools in this district, and the free item is high school tuition. The free standard is 600 yuan per student per semester and 1.200 yuan throughout the year.

China News Weekly learned from the Education Bureau of Changtai District that the implementation of tuition-free policy in senior high school education is not a whim, but has its practical considerations.

In fact, the practice of free tuition for senior high schools in Changtai District is not the first in China. Previously, many provinces and even some cities and counties in the whole province (autonomous region) have implemented the tuition-free policy for senior high schools.

This situation has sparked a heated discussion: Is free education in high school really coming?

On March 20 19 19, students were preparing for war in the classroom of a senior high school in Jincheng, Shanxi. Figure/figure worm creativity

It has been implemented in many places.

As for the reasons for implementing the tuition-free policy for senior high school education, the Education Bureau of Changtai District interprets the relevant policy as "in order to let the children of migrant workers' get in, stay and learn well', so that the masses can fully enjoy high-quality educational resources, superior business environment and share the dividends of reform and development."

According to the interpretation of relevant policies, in recent years, Changtai's economy and society have developed rapidly. As a new force in the economic development of this region, the private economy accounts for more than 60% of the fiscal revenue in this region, and migrant workers account for nearly one-third of Changtai's population.

Changtai District of Zhangzhou City is located in the southeast of Fujian Province, with a permanent population of 2310.3 million. In 2022, the regional GDP reached 4123 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7 1%, and the per capita GDP reached1785 million yuan, ranking sixth among 83 counties in the province.

Changtai Statistical Yearbook -2022 shows that there are 2468 students in ordinary high schools in the whole region, with 83 students1person and 649 graduates. This means that if Changtai District implements high school tuition free, it will cost about 3 million yuan every year.

Chu Zhaohui, a researcher at China Academy of Educational Sciences, told China Newsweek that it is "of course a good thing" to exempt high school tuition if local governments have economic conditions.

It is understood that Changtai District is not the initiator of tuition-free high schools. Even in Fujian Province, Mawei District, Gulou District, Changle District, Fuqing City, Minhou County, Jinjiang City and other places in Fuzhou have been implementing free education in public high schools for many years.

Among them, starting from 20 10, Mawei District took the lead in implementing free education in senior high school and compulsory education in 12. 20 1 1 Since autumn, senior high school education in Changle District is free. Since 20 12, Jinjiang City has implemented tuition-free public high schools; From the autumn of 20 15, Fuqing implemented the tuition-free policy for public ordinary high school education; From the autumn of 20 16, all middle schools in Gulou District will implement free education in senior high school.

From a national perspective, tuition-free high school education began in Zhuhai, Guangdong. In the autumn of 2007, Zhuhai began to implement 12 free education for primary and secondary school students with household registration in this city, and students in senior high schools did not have to pay tuition fees, which was the first in Guangdong Province and even the whole country.

In the same year, Wuqi, Shaanxi Province began to implement the policy of free tuition for senior high schools; In 2008, Tangshan, Hebei Province exempted students from basic tuition fees of public ordinary high schools. Since the autumn of 20 1 1, Ningshan, Shaanxi Province has taken the lead in realizing free high school education in poverty-stricken areas throughout the country.

After that, there are more places to follow up. According to the incomplete statistics of China Newsweek, up to now, at the level of provincial administrative units, Shaanxi, Inner Mongolia, Tibet, Qinghai and other provinces have implemented the tuition-free policy for senior high schools.

In 20 12, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region fully implemented the policy of "two exemptions" for all senior high school students (free of tuition fees and textbooks), becoming the first province in China to realize 12 free education within the provincial administrative region.

In the same year, starting from the autumn semester, Xizang Autonomous Region fully realized 15 free education, that is, 3 years before school, 6 years in primary school, 3 years in junior high school and 3 years in senior high school.

Since the fall semester of 20 16, Shaanxi province has implemented 13 free education in an all-round way, including preschool 1 year, 9 years in elementary school and junior high school and 3 years in senior high school.

From 2065438 to September 2009, the general high school education in Tonggu County, Jiangxi Province was completely free of tuition fees, which aroused widespread concern. In Jiangxi, Dexing City, Hukou County, Pingxiang City and other places, high schools have been free of tuition.

Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Yunnan Province have also implemented 14 years of free education in southern Xinjiang, Diqing and Nujiang respectively. In Henan, Xinzheng, Jiyuan, Baofeng, Mengzhou and other cities and counties have also implemented high school free policies.

China Newsweek learned that in terms of free content, all areas that implement free content mainly pay tuition fees, and some areas are also free of accommodation fees, textbook fees and heating fees. For example, in Changtai District, which officially announced that high school tuition is free, the accommodation, meals, uniforms, textbooks and homework fees that students should pay are not within the free scope.

It is worth noting that at present, most of the free high school education is in the central and western regions, while the more developed areas in the east have not been fully implemented.

According to Xiong Bingqi, vice president of 2 1 Century Education Research Institute, the reason behind this is: "As a relatively backward area, the income of residents is not high, most of them are poor students, and education expenditure also accounts for a large proportion. Therefore, from the perspective of promoting people's livelihood projects, choosing free education is a great starting point. "

"Most areas that expand free education have objectively met the guarantee conditions. In some underdeveloped areas, the government can also expand the implementation of free education by adjusting the financial expenditure structure when the financial resources are insufficient. " Yang Xiaomin, assistant researcher of Education Development Research Center of Beijing Academy of Educational Sciences, said.

"Free" is not the same as "obligation"

Under the background of exploring and implementing the tuition-free policy for senior high schools in many places across the country, many voices hope that the relevant policies can be extended to the whole country, and many NPC deputies and CPPCC members have put forward relevant proposals and suggestions.

However, at present, local spontaneous exploration has not been widely implemented nationwide.

Chu Zhaohui said that the situation in different places is different. In many places, high school tuition is not a big burden for parents. "As far as I know, many local high schools don't charge tuition fees, but there are many other expenses such as teaching materials, which have a great impact on families."

"In addition, although the country has repeatedly applied, there are still some high schools in various places to make up classes. The tuition fees of off-campus training institutions are a heavy burden for parents. " He said.

There are different opinions in academic circles on whether to comprehensively promote the tuition-free policy in senior high schools.

Wen Dongmao, a professor at Peking University Institute of Education, once said that vocational high schools have been exempted from tuition fees and ordinary high schools are not expensive, so the current financial resources of the country can fully afford it.

Professor Wen Dongmao of Peking University Institute of Education.

"In some places, high school education is free. It should be possible to increase transfer payments through local financial efforts and the central government, but if it is to be implemented nationwide, the conditions are not mature enough." Wu Hua, a professor at Zhejiang University School of Education, believes.

In Xiong Bingqi's view, another important reason is that behind the implementation of free education in high schools, there is also the meaning of extending compulsory education. Whether compulsory education should cover high school education is still controversial.

It is worth mentioning that in September, 20 18, the Ministry of Education responded to the proposal of "developing 12 compulsory education" by relevant CPPCC members, saying that "the current conditions are not yet mature" and "consolidating nine-year compulsory education is still the main task of education at present and in the future".

202 1, some NPC deputies suggested that free education should be implemented in senior high school. The Ministry of Education mentioned in its public reply that the central policy requires all localities to strictly implement the compulsory education law and adhere to the nine-year compulsory education system, and it is strictly forbidden to arbitrarily expand the scope of implementation of the free education policy.

Some analysts believe that the tuition-free policy for ordinary high schools introduced in some areas is also considered by the Ministry of Education as an exploration, rather than being included in compulsory education. Because compulsory education is universal, free, balanced and compulsory, if high school education is included in compulsory education, it means that "icing on the cake" becomes "duty-bound".

Xiong Bingqi believes that not including senior high school education in compulsory education at this stage does not mean that free education cannot be implemented. "For high school education, conditional areas can be free, but there is no need to extend the compulsory education period." He told China Newsweek earlier.

Many researchers believe that free education should be done according to one's ability, especially on the issue of expanding the number of years of compulsory education. Developing high-quality senior high school education is the main line of educational reform.

At present, high school education is mainly based on county-level financial input, and county-level financial support is very important for county-level high schools.

Chu Zhaohui mentioned that "there are still many problems" in the current education funds in various places. In some places, the funding problem of nine-year compulsory education and preschool education is very prominent, and in some places, new problems appear in the payment of teachers' salaries. "So we still have to do our best."

He told China Newsweek that in 20 17, the Ministry of Education put forward the goal of popularizing high school education. In his view, it should be free when local financial resources are available, "it should be further developed in the direction of promoting free" and "it is best to make all high schools free in the future".

Author: Brian Sun