From the "big illiterate country" to the country of education, New China has achieved education equity to the greatest extent
Beijing, in the sunset in June, a 6-year-old girl put on a beautiful dress and took pictures at the entrance of the kindergarten.
In a few days, she will graduate from kindergarten and will soon become a primary school student.
This little girl is the epitome of hundreds of millions of young people across the country.
"Strive to let every child have the opportunity to receive education, and strive to enable 1.3 billion people to have a better and fairer education." In September 2013, Xi Jinping, in a video speech at the first anniversary of the United Nations "Education First" global initiative The general secretary solemnly declared to the world.
Behind this announcement is the principle that the Chinese Communist Party has always adhered to the principle that the interests of the people are above all else and its firm determination to give priority to the development of education.
Under the leadership of the party, my country’s education undertaking has undergone earth-shaking changes. From the “illiterate country” with a net enrollment rate of only 20% in the early days of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, it has turned into a net enrollment rate of 99.96% for primary school-age children and a gross enrollment rate of higher education. 54.4% of major educational countries.
Education is the country's major plan and the party's major plan, and education is the foundation of people's livelihood and the foundation of a strong country.
Once upon a time, education was still a shortcoming of people's livelihood in some places, and many children still dropped out of school due to family poverty;
Once upon a time, there was still a clear “gap” between the compulsory education area, urban and rural areas, and between schools;
Once upon a time, walking out of that ravine and entering university was still the distant dream of many children in the mountains...
The continuous development and progress of my country's education over the past century is to make a fairer education benefit all people.
Today, by raising the bottom, narrowing the gap, and improving quality, every child has the opportunity to shine in life. It is no longer a distant dream for hundreds of millions of children to share high-quality education under the blue sky...
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Large-scale eradication of illiteracy: Let hundreds of millions of Chinese people "open their eyes"
In June 2021, in an ordinary conference room of Beijing Normal University, 92-year-old Gu Mingyuan accepted an exclusive interview with a reporter from China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily.
Gu Mingyuan is a senior professor at Beijing Normal University and the honorary president of the Chinese Education Association. He was one of the first people engaged in teacher education in New China and one of the founders of the comparative education discipline in New China.
"I started as a primary school teacher in 1948, and now I have been teaching for 73 years. I am both a participant and a witness to the education of New China." Gu Mingyuan said.
In the eyes of Gu Mingyuan, who has witnessed and participated in almost all major educational development nodes and changes in China, eradicating illiteracy is the most important achievement in the history of my country's educational development.
This is the "educational background" at the beginning of New China: illiterate and semi-illiterate accounted for more than 80% of the total population, the gross enrollment rate for preschool education was only 0.4% (1950), and the net enrollment rate for elementary schools was only 20%. And the gross enrollment rate of high school is also very low, at 3.1% and 1.1% respectively.
In order for hundreds of millions of Chinese people to "open their eyes" to see the world, an important task before the new China is to eliminate illiteracy.
To solve this problem, from the early 1950s to the early 1960s, a vigorous literacy campaign was launched across the country.
Along with large-scale literacy, the new China's national education system is gradually being built.
In December 1949, the first national education work conference after the founding of New China was held, and Gu Mingyuan still remembers this conference.
That year, he took the college entrance examination again, and when the first national education work conference was held, he was already a freshman at Beijing Normal University.
The meeting put forward, "New China's education is a new-democratic education, and the main task is to improve the cultural level of the people."
In 1951, my country promulgated New China's first educational system document "Decision on Reforming the School System", which set new regulations on the status, duration and linkage of schools at all levels and types, and a professional teacher team was initially formed.
In 1952, the "Interim Regulations for Primary Schools (Draft)" and "Interim Regulations for Secondary Schools (Draft)" were formally promulgated, which comprehensively regulated the education and teaching of primary and secondary schools in my country, and formed the basic framework for the curriculum setting of primary and secondary schools in my country.
According to these two documents, the Ministry of Education has formulated a new syllabus for various subjects in primary and secondary schools, and the new China has initially established a new basic education curriculum system.
In 1957, my country officially put forward the "education policy": to enable the educated to develop in moral education, intellectual education, and physical education.
"This is the first important node in China's educational development experience." Gu Mingyuan said that the educational policy clarifies the nature, direction, training objectives and specifications of China's education, and has a profound impact on the development of education in New China.
By the end of 1965, the number of students in secondary schools reached 14.32 million, and the number of students in primary schools reached 11.629 million, an increase of 6.9 times and 3.9 times, respectively, from the highest level before the founding of New China in 1946.
If the vast majority of people cannot receive education, how can we talk about fairness?
Not to mention development?
From 1949 to 1965, 102.723 million illiterate people were wiped out nationwide, with an average of 6.043 million illiterate people per year.
Let hundreds of millions of people take off the illiteracy hat. Such a large-scale and effective literacy campaign has created a miracle in human history.
Universal nine-year compulsory education: Let every child have the opportunity to receive education fairly
What is education equity?
"Education must have a fair starting point, so that all children have the same starting line. This is a foundation." Not long ago, Wu Qidi, former deputy minister of education and member of the party group, said in an exclusive interview with a reporter from China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily. .
Only when every school-age child has the opportunity to receive education can education fairness be truly achieved.
However, by the early 1980s, my country's primary education was still not universal.
The 1980 "Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Several Issues Concerning Universal Primary Education" required that universal primary education should be basically achieved throughout the country in the 1980s, and junior high school education should be popularized where conditions permit.
The "Constitution of the People's Republic of China" promulgated in 1982 called for "universal elementary compulsory education". This is the first time since the founding of New China that the universal elementary compulsory education has been established in the form of a constitution, and it has become the fundamental principle of universal elementary compulsory education everywhere.
At the same time, China's education reform is also kicking off.
The reform began with a widely circulated story: on the eve of the National Day in 1983, Beijing Jingshan School sent a letter to Comrade Deng Xiaoping, who had always been highly concerned about education, reporting on the situation of school education reform, and hoped that Comrade Deng Xiaoping would write an inscription for the school.
Soon, Comrade Deng Xiaoping responded to the inscription for Jingshan School: "Education must face modernization, face the world, and face the future."
The news came, not only greatly inspired all teachers and students of Beijing Jingshan School, a pilot school for educational reform, but also inspired all educators across the country.
Soon, these "three aspects" set the navigation mark of modern Chinese education and became the general policy of China's education reform.
Then, in 1985, the "Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Education System Reform" (hereinafter referred to as the "Decision") was promulgated.
The "Decision" proposed for the first time "the implementation of nine-year compulsory education in a systematic manner."
In order to achieve the grand goal of popularizing nine-year compulsory education, according to the national conditions at the time, the responsibility for the development of basic education was handed over to local governments. The state mobilized local enthusiasm for the development of basic education, and local governments also rely on the people to run education.
"For the development of China's education, this is also a very important node." Gu Mingyuan said that this system reform has promoted the rapid popularization of compulsory education in my country.
In order to ensure the smooth implementation of compulsory education, in 1986, nine-year compulsory education was written into the newly promulgated Compulsory Education Law, so that universal compulsory education has special legal protection.
For the first time, educational equity has become the will of the country.
In 1992, the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of China proposed that “by the end of this century, nine-year compulsory education should be basically universalized, and illiteracy among young and middle-aged people should be basically eliminated” (hereinafter referred to as the “two bases”) as an important goal for the development of my country's education in the 1990s.
In 1993, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council issued the "China Education Reform and Development Program", which ushered in a new era of education reform and development in my country, and officially took the "two bases" as a new goal.
At the National Education Work Conference held in 1994, the "two bases" truly changed from a goal to a national action, and became the top priority of my country's education work. Military orders were issued with 1996, 1998, and 2000 as the time node. .
When the time came on January 1, 2001, the Chinese government solemnly announced to the world: China has achieved the strategic goals of basically universalizing nine-year compulsory education and basically eliminating illiteracy among young and middle-aged people as scheduled.
At the end of 2000, the population coverage rate of the "universal nine" areas across the country reached 85%, and the illiteracy rate of young and middle-aged people dropped to less than 5%.
However, although my country has achieved the historical task of the "two bases" as a whole, the task of the "two bases" in the western region is still very arduous.
According to the data released by the Ministry of Education, as of the end of 2002, the coverage of the "two bases" population in the western region was only 77%, and there were 410 counties that had not yet achieved the "two bases", and the average number of years of education per capita was only 6.7 years.
The largest denominator of education in China is in rural areas, and the weakest link is also in rural areas. In rural areas, especially in western rural areas, the amount of compulsory education is large and wide, and it involves almost all the difficulties of education equity.
Especially in these 410 counties, the economic and social development is lagging and the education foundation is weak. At that time, most of the 30 million people in the country who had not been lifted out of poverty lived in these areas. The natural conditions in these areas are very difficult, and the cost of running and attending school for universal compulsory education is far Much higher than other regions.
As a result, on December 30, 2003, the National Science and Education Leading Group reviewed and approved the "National "Two Basics" Tackling Plan (2004-2007)" formulated by the Ministry of Education, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance and the Western Development Office of the State Council.
Soon, a massive battle of fortifications opened the battlefield in western China.
On July 5, 2004, a special signing ceremony was held in Beijing.
The Ministry of Education, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the Ministry of Finance solemnly signed the "Two Bases" Tackling Plan Responsibility Letters with 12 western provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, and the governors issued "Military Orders."
Next, all levels of government signed a letter of responsibility, and the county implemented the government's first-in-command responsibility system.
Four years later, on February 25, 2008, Jiang Peimin, then director of the Department of Basic Education of the Ministry of Education, stated at a regular press conference that the "two basics" in the western region of my country had been completed as scheduled and the main goals were all achieved.
"We have spent more than 20 years on the path that developed countries have taken in 50 and 100 years. The results have been tremendous, not easy, and very remarkable." Gu Mingyuan said.
The realization of the "two bases" is an important milestone in the history of China's education development and an unprecedented feat in the history of world education.
China, which accounts for one-fifth of the world’s population, has fully realized the goal of "two bases", which is a major breakthrough in the world's education for all!
Leapfrog development of higher education
Confucius once put forward the ideal of "teaching but not class".
When the "universal nine" Chinese people have fulfilled their 100-year educational dream, from "learning" to "easy to learn", the Chinese will have to realize the educational ideal that spans the millennium.
The report of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China stated that "strive to ensure that every child can enjoy a fair and quality education."
Allowing every child to enjoy a higher quality and higher level of education is also part of the question of educational equity.
However, the development of my country's higher education has also experienced many twists and turns.
At the beginning of the founding of the People’s Republic of my country, there were only 205 higher education institutions in China, the gross enrollment rate of higher education was only 0.26%, and the total enrollment was less than 120,000.
The country has made rapid adjustments. Based on the urgent need for specialized talents in my country’s economic construction at that time, and learning from the experience of the Soviet Union in developing higher education talent training, by 1957, the number of higher education institutions nationwide reached 229, including 17 comprehensive universities and 44 industrial colleges. 58 normal colleges and universities...Basically changed the old China's higher education, heavy industry, light industry, lack of teachers, trained a large number of professional talents urgently needed for the country’s economic construction, and played a huge role in the industrialization of new China. Promoting role.
In the ten years of the "Cultural Revolution", the nationwide unified enrollment system for regular colleges and universities that was gradually established after the founding of New China was denied, and there was a serious shortage of talents in the country's development.
In October 1977, the State Council approved and forwarded the Ministry of Education's "Opinions on the Enrollment of Higher Education Institutions in 1977" and was released.
The document stipulates that all workers, farmers, educated young people who go to the mountains and the countryside and return home, demobilized soldiers, cadres and recent graduates can apply for the exam if they meet the conditions.
Many young people who are eager for knowledge are boiling.
When I heard this exciting news, Gong Ke, chairman of the World Federation of Engineering Organizations and former president of Nankai University, had just been 22 years old, but had been working in a state-owned factory for 7 years.
In December of this year, Gong Ke and 5.7 million candidates set out from mines, fields, factories and other corners, flocking to the college entrance examination room, and finally 273,000 people entered the university.
In the second year, the total number of young people applying for the national examination surged to 6.15 million. Finally, 402,000 freshmen were admitted to the university.
As the first college student after the resumption of the college entrance examination, Gong Ke believes that this is by no means a simple resumption of an exam, but a reversal of the social trend of despising knowledge and science and technology in the whole society, and let the whole society begin to respect knowledge and respect. Talent and respect for science.
"It's not just the destiny of our generation, but the destiny of the entire country."
Since then, more and more young people have embarked on the path of changing their destiny.
Even so, the development of my country's higher education is still not fast. People describe the college entrance examination of the year like this: Thousands of troops have crossed the single-plank bridge.
By 1998, the number of college students in my country was only 7.8 million, and the gross enrollment rate of higher education was only 9.8%, which is far from meeting the needs of the people for higher education and the demand for talents for the country's economic and social development.
Enrollment expansion in colleges and universities has become popular.
In 1998, the enrollment of colleges and universities nationwide was 1.08 million, and in 1999 it was expanded to 1.59 million, an increase of 510,000 over 1998, an increase of 47.4%; by 2002, my country’s regular colleges and universities enrolled 3.2 million students, and higher education gross enrollment The rate has reached 15%, officially entering the stage of popularization.
Since then, this number has continued to grow rapidly, reaching 26.5% in 2010 and 48.1% in 2018. By the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan in 2020, the gross enrollment rate of higher education in my country is 54.4%, and higher education is entering rapidly. To the stage of popularization.
At the same time, "tilting to the central and western regions" is also under the overall planning of the country. As early as 2008, the "collaborative plan to support the enrollment of ordinary colleges and universities in the central and western regions" was launched.
The 2014 "State Council's Implementation Opinions on Deepening the Reform of the Examination Enrollment System" specifically stated that it is necessary to increase the admission rate of the college entrance examination in the central and western regions and the populous provinces, continue to implement the support for the enrollment cooperation plan in the central and western regions, and arrange special enrollment places in universities in the eastern region Enroll students in the central and western regions.
At the same time, we will continue to implement the national special plan for targeted enrollment in poor rural areas, and key universities will enroll students in impoverished areas.
Educational fairness is the most basic fairness, which is "baseline fairness" and "starting fairness".
China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily reporters found that by the time of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the gap between the lowest admission rate of the provinces in the central and western regions and the national average had narrowed to less than 5 percentage points.
Since its implementation, the Collaborative Plan to Support the Enrollment of Midwestern Regions has fulfilled the college dreams of more than 1 million Midwestern children.
The special plan for enrolling students from rural and impoverished areas in key universities has enrolled more than 470,000 people by 2018, and some border counties have achieved breakthroughs in getting admission to Peking University and Tsinghua University.
In the new era today, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council have issued the "China Education Modernization 2035", which puts forward a more exciting goal: to achieve overall educational modernization by 2035, enter the ranks of education powers, and promote my country to become Learning is a big country, a country with human resources and a country with talents.
China is striding forward from a big education country to a strong education country.
China Youth Daily·China Youth Daily reporter Fan Weichen and Ye Yuting Source: China Youth Daily