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Weixian County, in north China's Hebei Province, is a county that has been considered as having attained the required standard of nine-year compulsory education. According to the standard, the number of dropouts during the compulsory education period must be lower than 3 percent. However, the fact is that annual enrollment in its middle schools remains around 10,000, but only 4,000 took part in the high school entrance examination after three years of study. More than 6,000 students dropped out during these three years.
In Heying Middle School of Weixian County, there are currently 400 students studying, of whom 200 are in the first grade. There are only 50 third-grade students left. According to the people in charge of the school, such figures are very normal here. Usually, newly enrolled middle school students can be divided into three classes in their first year, but when the third year arrives, only half of one class is left. Most students drop out of school during the second year. This year, only 24 students took part in the high school entrance examination with the dropout rate reaching nearly 90 percent.
Changzhuang Middle School enrolls 150 students annually but only 42 students took part in the high school entrance examination this year, with a nearly 70 percent dropout rate. Gaogongzhuang Middle School enrolls 150 students annually with only 48 taking part in the high school entrance examination this year; Jingzhen Middle School enrolls 120 students annually, of which only 55 took part in the high school entrance examination this year. This autumn, Gaogongzhuang Middle School combined with Jingzhen Middle School. Currently there are 200 first-grade students, 90 third-grade students.
According to a principal who has served in several Weixian County middle schools, although Weixian County had attained the required standard of nine-year compulsory education, the dropout rates during the compulsory education period are not under control.
An official in charge of the Weixian County Education Bureau said that in recent years, annual enrollment in the county's middle schools remained around 10,000, the number of dropouts reached 7,000 before 2003. Now the situation is better. This year, 4,100 students in the county took part in the high school entrance examination. Among those students, only 800 passed the examination.
Yang Zhifang from Mazhuang Village is in her second year in the middle school. She should take part in the high school entrance examination next year. However, she left school during the first semester of her second year. Her reason is "I don't want to study." 15-year-old Wu Ling dropped out a few days after she enrolled in middle school. The reason she left is "bad study performance and studying is not interesting." According to many local principals and teachers, large group of students drop out of schools because they are "bored of study." The reason that their parents do not object is because they consider study to be "useless."
Upon further investigation, many parents interviewed pointed out that their kids can go to middle schools, but can't pass the high school entrance examination. Even if they can, the family can't afford the tuition. Even if they can afford the tuition, their children cannot find a job after graduation. That's what they mean by "study is useless."
Among the 35 middle schools in Weixian County, only one school had over 20 percent of its students pass the high school entrance examination in 2005. Less than 10 percent of students in 25 schools passed the high school entrance examination this year. Three schools failed to have anybody pass the examination. In the face of such a low proportion of students entering high school, many feel hopeless. That's the reason for many students to be "bored of study."
According to local farmers, if their children are lucky enough to enter high school, they will face a huge financial burden in the future. The tuition for one year is 1,000 yuan (US$124), adding in other expenditures it will be 3,000 yuan (US$371) each year, almost 10,000 over three years. If their children pass the college entrance examination, the minimal cost will be 50,000 (US$6,185) for four years. It is no doubt a massive burden for farmers whose yearly income is only several thousand yuan.
When their children successfully finish their college study, employment is the biggest watershed in their lives. According to local principals in Weixian County middle schools, competing with urban students, many students in the villages can only enter low ranking colleges. It's very hard for them to find a good job after graduation. Many college graduates of Weixian County can't find a job for five consecutive years, they can only return home to do farming or go out to find temporary employment, which can also be done without school studying. Such results have led to a very negative effect on farmers.
In top universities like Tsinghua and Peking Universities, the rate of newly enrolled rural students has steadily decreased since the 1990s. In ordinary universities, the rate of rural students enrolled is on the rise. It's very difficult for graduates from ordinary universities to find good jobs. For those whose permanent resident registration is in rural areas, it is even more difficult.
Since China has carried out nine-year compulsory education, many village middle schools have set up new teaching buildings. However, the rising dropout rate has not been curbed which has led to less and less students and more and more empty classrooms.
An investigation into situation of middle school dropouts in rural areas made by China Association for Promoting Democracy indicates that the average dropout rate is 40 percent. The ratio between male and female dropouts is 11 to 19. Dropouts in rural areas have affected the development of rural education.
(Xinhua News Agency, translated by Wang Qian for China.org.cn, November 16, 2005)
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