Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, it has been an important governmental task to eliminate illiteracy and popularize compulsory education. In 1949, only 20 percent of school-age children were in school, and 80 percent of all adults were illiterate. By 2002, more than 90 percent of the population had received the nine-year compulsory education, with the illiteracy rate among young and middle-aged people having dropped to less than 5 percent.These results have won the Chinese government praise from international institutes like the World Bank and UNESCO.
But the fastest development in education in China has been over the past 10 years. In 2002, institutions of higher learning admitted more than 3,200,000 students from 5,270,000 applicants throughout the country; while 10 years previously, only 750,000 of more than
4,000,000 applicants could be enrolled. Students at universities and junior colleges were 2,180,000 10 years previously; while in 2002, the figure was 9,030,000. Postgraduate student body was 94,000 and 501,000 respectively in the same periods. In 2002, institutions of higher learning had more than 15,000,000 students, with the gross enrollment ratio of higher education reaching 15 percent, compared with that of 7.2 percent of people aged 18 to 22 in 1995. Ten years ago, few institutions offered an MBA (Master of Business Administration). In 2002, some 62 schools offer MBAs, enrolling
30,000 MBA students. Some international professional degrees like EMBA (Employed Master of Business Administration) and MPA (Master of Public Administration) were offered. As regards the MPA degree, the State Council Degree Committee has authorized 24 institutions of higher learning like PekingUniversity and TsinghuaUniversity to start enrollment. At present there are 2,400 MPA students.
Funding for education has grown significantly in recent years. Since 1998, the ratio of education expenditure of the central expenditure has been increasing by one percentage point each year; and most provinces and centrally administered municipalities have also increased the percentage of educational spending of the total at a corresponding level. In 2002, the total input of financial education expenditure of the whole country was 336.6 billion yuan, or 3.3 percent of the GDP, the highest level in history since the index has been calculated.
Changes have also taken place in each level and field of education. Educational legislation system and the operational system of modern schools have been set and improved; many new educational concepts have been tried. The consumer market for education is developing rapidly; computer, foreign languages and the training programs and examinations for certification of various professional qualifications are popular. Continuing education is in fashion with more and more people entering the lifelong education era instead of a one-chance educational experience throughout a lifetime.
The government has promised it will provide still more educational opportunities for citizens to improve their educational level. A plan of the Ministry of Education aims by 2020 for the percentage of illiterate and semiliterate to drop to less than three percent; and the average educational period of the population to climb to nearly 11 years, rather than eight years at present.
