(Adopted at the Fourth Session of the Sixth National People's
Congress April 12, 1986 and promulgated by Order No. 38 of the
President of the People's Republic of China on April 12, 1986)
Article 1 This Law is formulated, in accordance with the
Constitution and the actual conditions in China, for the purpose of
promoting elementary education and the building of a socialist
society that is advanced culturally and ideologically as well as
materially.
Article 2 The State shall institute a system of nine-year
compulsory education. The authorities of provinces, autonomous
regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government
shall decide on measures to promote compulsory education, in
accordance with the degree of economic and cultural development in
their own localities.
Article 3 In compulsory education, the State policy on education
must be implemented to improve the quality of instruction and
enable children and adolescents to achieve all-round development --
morally, intellectually and physically -- so as to lay the
foundation for improving the qualities of the entire nation and for
cultivating well-educated and self-disciplined builders of
socialism with high ideals and moral integrity.
Article 4 The State, the community, schools and families shall,
in accordance with law, safeguard the right to compulsory education
of school-age children and adolescents.
Article 5 All children who have reached the age of six shall
enroll in school and receive compulsory education for the
prescribed number of years, regardless of sex, nationality or race.
In areas where that is not possible, the beginning of schooling may
be postponed to the age of seven.
Article 6 Schools shall promote the use of Putonghua (common
speech based on Beijing pronunciation), which is in common use
throughout the nation.
Schools in which the majority of students are of minority
nationalities may use the spoken and written languages of those
nationalities in instruction.
Article 7 Compulsory education shall be divided into two stages:
primary school education and junior middle school education. Once
primary education has been made universal, junior middle school
education shall follow. The department in charge of education under
the State Council shall decide on the duration of each stage.
Article 8 Under the leadership of the State Council, local
authorities shall assume responsibility for compulsory education,
and it shall be administered at different levels.
The department in charge of education under the State Council
shall, in accordance with the needs of the socialist modernization
and with the physical and mental development of children and
adolescents, decide on the teaching methods, the courses to be
offered and their content, and the selection of textbooks for
compulsory education.
Article 9 Local people's governments at various levels shall
establish primary schools and junior middle schools at such
locations that children and adolescents can attend schools near
their homes.
Local people's governments shall establish special schools (or
classes) for children and adolescents who are blind, deaf-mute or
retarded.
The State shall encourage enterprises, institutions and other
segments of society to establish schools of the types prescribed by
this Law, under unified administration by local people's
governments and in compliance with the basic requirements of the
State.
Appropriate facilities for compulsory education must be included
in the plans for construction and development of both urban and
rural areas.
Article 10 The State shall not charge tuition for students
receiving compulsory education.
The State shall establish a system of grants-in-aid to support
the school attendance of poor students.
Article 11 When children have reached school age, their parents
or guardians shall send them to school to receive compulsory
education for the prescribed number of years.
If, on account of illness or other special circumstances,
school-age children or adolescents need to postpone enrollment or
be exempted from schooling, their parents or guardians shall submit
an application to that effect to the local people's government for
approval.
No organization or individual shall employ school-age children
or adolescents who should receive compulsory education.
Article 12 The State Council and the local people's governments
at various levels shall be responsible for raising funds for the
operating expenses and capital construction investment needed for
the implementation of compulsory education, and the funds must be
fully guaranteed.
State appropriations for compulsory education shall increase at
a faster rate than regular State revenues, and the average
expenditure on education per student shall also increase
steadily.
In accordance with the provisions of the State Council, the
local people's governments at various levels shall levy a surtax
for education, which shall be used mainly for compulsory
education.
The State shall subsidize those areas that are unable to
introduce compulsory education because of financial
difficulties.
The State shall encourage individuals and all segments of
society to make donations to help develop education.
The State shall assist areas inhabited by minority nationalities
to implement compulsory education by providing them with teachers
and funds.
Article 13 The State shall take measures to strengthen and
develop normal schools and colleges in order to accelerate the
training of teachers, so as to ensure, in a planned way, that all
primary school teachers have received at least secondary normal
school education and that all junior middle school teachers have
received at least higher normal school education.
The State shall establish a system to test the qualifications of
teachers and shall issue qualification certificates to those who
pass the test.
All graduates of normal schools and colleges must engage in
educational work, as required by the relevant regulations. The
State shall encourage teachers to make education their long-term
career.
Article 14 Teachers should be respected by the public. The State
shall safeguard the teachers' lawful rights and interests, and take
measures to raise their social status and improve their material
benefits. It shall reward outstanding educational workers.
Teachers should be committed to the cause of socialist
education, endeavour to raise their own ideological and cultural
levels as well as professional competence, show concern for their
students and be devoted to their duties.
Article 15 The local people's governments at various levels must
create conditions for all school-age children and adolescents to
enrol in schools and receive compulsory education. In cases where
school-age children or adolescents do not enroll in school and
receive compulsory education, with the exception of those who, on
account of illness or other special circumstances, are allowed by
the local people's governments not to go to school, the local
people's governments shall admonish and criticize the parents or
guardians of those children or adolescents, and adopt effective
measures to order them to send the children or wards to school.
In cases where organizations or individuals employ school-age
children or adolescents for work, the local people's governments
shall admonish and criticize them and shall order them to stop such
employment. In serious cases, the offenders may be fined, ordered
to suspend their business operations or have their business
licences revoked.
Article 16 No organization or individual may appropriate,
withhold or misuse funds earmarked for compulsory education,
disrupt order in education, or occupy or damage school buildings,
grounds or facilities.
It shall be forbidden to insult or assault teachers. It shall be
forbidden to inflict physical punishment on students.
No one may make use of religion to engage in activities which
interfere with the implementation of compulsory education.
Persons who violate the provisions of the preceding two
paragraphs shall be subject to administrative sanctions or
penalties depending on the circumstances. In case damage is caused,
the offender shall be ordered to make compensation. If the
circumstances are serious and a crime is committed, criminal
responsibility shall be investigated in accordance with the
law.
Article 17 The department in charge of education under the State
Council shall, in accordance with this Law, formulate rules for its
implementation, which shall come into force after being submitted
to and approved by the State Council,
The standing committees of the people's congresses of provinces,
autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central
Government may formulate specific measures for implementation in
accordance with this Law and their local conditions.
Article 18 This law shall go into effect on July 1,
1986.?
Source: NPC