China has attained considerable achievements attracting worldwide attention in education. According to the latest statistics, by the end of 1998 there were 1,022 universities and colleges in China, with 3.41 million students, of which 1.08 million were the year’s new recruits; 736 graduate training units with 199,000 students, of which 73,000 were the year’s new recruits; 962 adult higher-learning institutions with 2.82 million students, of which one million were the year’s new recruits; 13,948 ordinary high schools, with a total of 9.38 million students; 17,106 secondary special and technical schools and vocational high schools, with 11.26 million students (of which, 1.73 million were technical school students), accounting for 55 percent of the total students in high schools. And there were 54.5 million junior middle school students nationwide, with an enrollment rate of 87.3 percent; 139.54 million primary school pupils, with 98.9 percent of the school-age children enrolled. The dropout rates of the students of ordinary junior middle schools and primary schools were 3.23 percent and 0.93 percent, respectively. There were 2.51 million people studying in vocational secondary schools for adults; 86.82 million persons trained in adult technical training schools; and 3.21 million illiterate people became literate.
The cross-century period is an important phase in China’s economic and social development. Giving priority to the development of education is the basis of the two major national strategies of improving the quality of the people and rejuvenating the nation by relying on science and education and realizing sustained development. As human society enters the knowledge and information age, education is expected to play an increasingly important role.
Development of Schools at All Levels and in Various Forms
Year |
Institutions of higher learning |
Middle schools |
Primary schools | ||||||
Number of institutions |
Student body (100,000) |
Full-time teachers (100,000) |
Number of schools |
Student body (100,000) |
Full-time teachers (100,000) |
Number of schools |
Student body (100,000) |
Full-time teachers (100,000) | |
1949 |
205 |
1.17 |
0.16 |
5,216 |
12.68 |
8.3 |
346.769 |
243.91 |
8.36 |
1978 |
598 |
8.56 |
2.06 |
165,105 |
663.72 |
328.1 |
949,323 |
1,462.40 |
52.26 |
1985 |
1,016 |
17.03 |
3.44 |
104,848 |
509.26 |
296.7 |
832,309 |
1,337.02 |
53.77 |
1990 |
1,075 |
20.63 |
3.95 |
100,777 |
510.54 |
349.2 |
766,072 |
1,224.14 |
55.82 |
1997 |
1,020 |
31.74 |
4.04 |
78,642 |
601.79 |
358.7 |
628,840 |
1,399.54 |
57.94 |
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