The average number of years of education of the working-age population will increase to 11.3 years
Add 0.6 years, how big a dividend can China's economy get
On March 5th, Premier Li Keqiang introduced the main goals and tasks of my country during the 14th Five-Year Plan period in the government work report on March 5th. He mentioned that it is necessary to build a high-quality education system, deepen education reform, and implement education quality and capacity expansion projects. The average number of years of education of the working-age population has increased to 11.3 years.
In 11.3 years, according to my country's current education system, this is roughly equivalent to the level of the first semester of the third year of high school, close to high school graduation.
According to official data from the Ministry of Education, in 2019, the average number of years of education of the working-age population in my country was 10.7 years.
By 2025, my country is expected to increase the average years of education of the working-age population by another 0.6 years.
What does the average number of years of education of the working-age population mean?
Can an increase of 0.6 years be achieved in the next few years?
Reporters from China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily interviewed many representatives and experts.
"This number is a very important indicator. It reflects the 40-plus years of reform and opening up in my country, especially the rapid development of China's education in the past 10 years." said Zhou Hongyu, a representative of the National People's Congress and a professor at Central China Normal University. In the world, 15-64 years old are generally listed. For the working-age population, my country's regulations are that men between 16 and 60 years old and women between 16 and 55 years old are the working-age population.
Zhang Jue, deputy dean of the Shanghai Academy of Educational Sciences, said that the number of years of education of the working-age population reflects the level of human resource development in a country, which is an internationally universal basic indicator for measuring core competitiveness and innovative development capabilities.
The number of years of education of the working-age population has a huge impact on the economic and social development of a country.
According to Zhang Jue, the US National Bureau of Economic Research analyzed relevant data from 146 countries from 1950 to 2010 and found that for every additional year of education per capita, the total economic output from this increase by at least 2%; World Bank Related research also shows that for every additional year of education time per labor force, the GDP will increase by 9%.
According to research by Cai Fang, vice president of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and his team, the measurement model analysis of manufacturing companies shows that if all employees of the company are changed from junior high school education to high school education, the labor productivity of the company will increase by 24%; Changing to a college degree can increase labor productivity by another 75%; from college to undergraduate, labor productivity can increase by 66%.
Zhou Hongyu told a reporter from China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily that in the early days of reform and opening up, the average number of years of education of the working-age population in my country was very low, probably only at the level of the third grade of primary school.
By 2011, the average number of years of education of the working-age population in my country reached 7.5 years.
At present, the average number of years of education of the working-age population in the world is 7.4 years.
"In 2011, we exceeded the international average." Zhou Hongyu said.
"In 2011, it should be an important node," Zhou Hongyu calculated: The average number of years of education for the working-age population ranges from 3 years to 7.5 years. It took about 30 years for China, and about 100 years for Western countries. Time of year.
This is inseparable from the fact that my country has embarked on a road of rapid development after reform and opening up.
During this period, my country has completed the "two basics" tackling plan, basically universalizing the nine-year compulsory education, and basically eliminating illiteracy among young and middle-aged people.
First, it realized the complete exemption of tuition and miscellaneous fees for rural students in the compulsory education stage, and then from 2008 onwards, the full exemption of tuition and miscellaneous fees for students in the urban compulsory education stage.
These measures have rapidly improved the universal level of compulsory education in my country.
According to official data from the Ministry of Education, as of the end of 2010, all 2,856 counties (cities, districts) across the country have achieved the "two bases", and the national population coverage of the "two bases" reached 100%.
At this time, our country realized that the average number of years of education of the working-age population reached 7.5 years, catching up with the international average.
Zhou Hongyu said that by 2015, the average number of years of education for the working-age population in my country reached 10.23 years, and by 2019, the average number of years of education for the working-age population in my country was 10.7 years.
During the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, the average number of years of education of the working-age population will increase to 11.3 years. Is it difficult?
In the view of Zhu Yongxin, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and vice chairman of the Democratic Progressive Central Committee, this is not a difficult task.
"During the '14th Five-Year Plan' period, it will need to increase by almost 0.1 year each year." Zhu Yongxin pointed out that compared with some developed countries, there is still some gap in the number of years of education of the working-age population in my country, but the current average number of years of education of my country's new labor force Higher.
"The average number of years of education for the newly added labor force has exceeded 13 years. From this perspective, we can achieve an annual increase of 0.1, or even exceed this goal."
Official data from the Ministry of Education show that in 2019, the proportion of my country's new labor force who received higher education reached 50.9%, and the average number of years of education reached 13.7 years.
"This goal can be achieved as scheduled." Zhang Jue said that today, compulsory education in our country has been highly popularized. To promote this goal to be achieved on schedule, the key lies in high school and above education.
From the perspective of human resources statistics, in recent years, a high proportion of my country’s newly-increased working-age population has received higher education, and the majority of the quit population is low-educated.
How to achieve this goal?
Zhu Yongxin said: "In the future, it is necessary not only to strengthen the penetration rate of higher education and high school education, but also to strengthen adult education and on-the-job training."
However, Zhu Yongxin believes that many of the current working-age population are migrant workers who have only received junior high school education, or even have not graduated from junior high school, and that more support should be provided for them to receive academic education.
Last year, Zhu Yongxin wrote a proposal specifically for migrant workers and other groups to receive education.
"After migrant workers arrive in the city, basically no one cares about their education. I think we should encourage the establishment of adult night schools in the places where they work, and then set up incentives through the state to encourage them to study and improve their education. This will increase the number of years of education for the overall working-age population in my country."
Zhu Yongxin suggested that through the government's purchase of services, social welfare organizations, vocational schools, etc. can be encouraged to open adult education schools.
Zhang Jue suggested that the size and increase of the population of existing higher education institutions receiving higher education should be expanded through the reform and innovation of the school system, talent training system and model.
On the basis of maintaining the normal growth of higher education, we will expand the increment of higher education through flexible academic system, new business forms and new learning methods, increase the gross enrollment rate of higher education and the opportunities for more people to receive education together.
"It is recommended to implement a national action plan for continuing education and training services to optimize and upgrade the stock of human resources. To vigorously promote the construction of a modern lifelong education system as an important starting point, make full use of advanced technologies and methods such as artificial intelligence, informatization, cloud computing, and big data. , To innovate the existing institutional mechanisms and operating models. Strengthen relevant legislation, enhance the basic capabilities of continuing education, various training and education services, and in particular speed up the construction of relevant institutions and mechanisms." Zhang Jue said.
China Youth Daily·China Youth Daily reporter Ye Yuting Fan Weichen Source: China Youth Daily