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China's Educational System
General Education

             Strategically placing education in primacy to the development of other items, the Chinese government formulated the policy of "developing the country through science and education," constantly deepens the reform of education system, and carries out nine-year free education. Governments at all levels are increasing investments in education, and encourage people to run schools through any channel and manner.

             “Oriented to the modernization, the world and the future" is not only the guiding principle for the development goal of Chinese education but a principle for its daily educational reform and construction.

             Generally, education in China can be divided into the following stages:

  1. Pre-school education for the 3-5 years old children in kindergartens.
  2. Primary education for 6-12 years old children. Primary schools are usually run by local educational authorities, and in some cases, by enterprises and individuals.
  3. Secondary school provided to 13-18 years old children. Education of this kind is conducted by local governments and various business authorities, and classified as secondary schools or vocational high schools whose graduates hold the same degree studying as graduates senior middle schools and sorts of secondary professional schools whose graduates enjoy some privileges as from colleges. In particular, public secondary schools include junior middle schools and senior middle schools, both of three years' study. Students graduating from junior schools usually go to common senior middle schools, and parts of them go to vocational high schools or secondary professional schools for 3-5 years of studying.

            Higher education constituted by those for vocational college students, undergraduates, postgraduates and doctoral students. Higher education is performed by universities, colleges, institutes and vocational colleges. These institutes bear the three major tasks of raising courses, doing scientific researches and providing social services.
 

Educational Structure in China
Level Stages Grade Age
Pre-School
学前教育
Nursery
托儿所
2
Kindergarten
幼儿园
小班 Grade I 3
中班 Grade 2 4
大班 Grade 3 5
Elementary
初等教育
Primary School
小学
Pre-School Class
学前班
6
1年级 Grade 1 7
2年级 Grade 2 8
3年级 Grade 3 9
4年级 Grade 4 10
5年级 Grade 5 11
6年级 Grade 6 12
Secondary
中等教育
Junior Middle School
初级中学
1年级 Grade 1 13
2年级 Grade 2 14
3年级 Grade 3 15
Secondary / Professional
中等专科学校
1年级 Grade 1 16
2年级 Grade 2 17
3年级 Grade 3 18
Senior High School
高级中学
1年级 Grade 1 16
2年级 Grade 2 17
3年级 Grade 3 18
Higher Learning
高等教育
Poly-technique
大学/学院 (大专)
1年级 Grade 1 16
2年级 Grade 2 17
3年级 Grade 3 18
University (Bachelor)
大学/学院 (本科)
1年级 Grade 1 19
2年级 Grade 2 20
3年级 Grade 3 21
4年级 Grade 4 22
University (Master)
大学 (硕士)
1年级 Grade 1 23
2年级 Grade 2 24
3年级 Grade 3 25
University (Doctor)
大学 (博士)
1年级 Grade 1 26
2年级 Grade 2 27
3年级 Grade 3 28
Note: Some bachelor's major has longer time such as medical (5 years).
 
Statistic in Shanghai on education expense
(Among 3000 families)
Level Year Expense Into US$
Kindergarten 3 Y14,000 $1,693
Elementary 6 Y15,000 $1,814
Middle & High 6 Y30,000 $3,628
University 4 Y46,000 $5,563
Total Y105,000 $12,697

 
Top Ten Universities in 2002
1 清华大学 Tsinghua University 6 华中科技大学 Huazhong University of Science and Technology
2 北京大学 Peking University 7 武汉大学 Wuhan University
3 浙江大学 Zhejiang University 8 西安交通大学 Xi'an Jiaotong University
4 复旦大学 Fudan University 9 吉林大学 Jilin University
5 南京大学 Nanjing University 10 上海交通大学 Shanghai Jiaotong University

 
Development of Schools
Year Colleges & Universities Middles Schools Primary Schools
Number Students Number Students Number Students
1978 598 856,000 165,105 66,372,000 949,323 142,240,000
1985 1,016 1,703,000 104,848 50,926,000 832,309 133,702,000
1990 1,075 2,063,000 100,777 51,054,000 766,072 122,414,000
1995 1,054 2,906,000 95,216 61,915,000 668,685 131,952,000
1997 1,020 3,174,000 97,308 71,883,000 628,840 139,953,000

 
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