The Education System in China

A countrywide public education system is implemented in the People’s Republic of China that comprises of primary, secondary and higher educations. All Chinese students are required a 9-year education. The Ministry of Education is in charge for Education in China. As of 2002, it is estimated that the literacy rate of China is 90.8%, 95.1% for female and 95.1% for male.

Primary schools are tuition-free and should provide a convenient access to students based on the Nine-Year Compulsory Education Law. Small fees are paid for expenses on books, food, transportation and heating. Students of age 6-7 start attending primary education for five and a half days. The subjects included in the curriculum include Chinese, mathematics, music, history, physical education, drawing, geography, social science, morality and ethics.

Secondary schools in China are also known as middle schools with two levels – junior and senior. A typical secondary year generally has 2 semesters for a total of 9 months. The junior middle school is for students with age 12-15 years. Chinese and mathematics comprise almost 38% of the courses in junior years and 16% in foreign language. The senior middle school begins at age 15 and taken for 3 years, 50% of its subjects covers mathematics and sciences and 30% for Chinese and foreign language.

A senior middle school graduate is already regarded as educated person. But students also have to face the fact that university admission is limited. As of 2004, China has almost 2,300 schools for higher learning with more than 20 million students. Areas of expertise that were given special priorities include computer science, atomic energy, nuclear physics, automation, physical chemistry, polymer physics and biophysics.