Equal opportunity is need of the times
Balanced development of compulsory education, Minister of Education Yuan Guiren said recently, is vital to realizing educational equality, says an article in Changjiang Daily. Excerpt:
Yuan Guiren, the new minister of education, said recently that China would focus on balanced development of compulsory education and fix a timetable to achieve the goal.
The project is aimed at balancing the investment in education, academic facilities, staff and quality of teaching in compulsory education schools, as well as ensuring that all students get fair education.
It has taken the government several decades to make parents (as well as students) in all corners of the country understand the importance of compulsory education. By 2005, the gross enrollment rate (GER) of primary school-age and middle school-age children had reached 99.15 and 95 percent.
But when it comes to development of compulsory education, there still are severe gaps between the developed and undeveloped regions, urban and rural areas, and even different schools in the same province or city. Students are still not treated equally when it comes to compulsory education.
There are historic reasons behind such educational disparities. Since the reform and opening up, China's education development has followed the trajectory of economic growth , that is, some regions have developed first and faster. That has caused an unbalanced distribution of educational resources in the country.
For the past few decades, we have accorded priority to efficiency. But now we have to shift the emphasis to fairness, especially in education.
Individual development is not possible without education. As early as 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights defined equal education as a kind of basic human right.
Research shows that equal and fair education is not only a potent way of bridging the rich-and-poor gap, but is also conducive to strengthening social integration. So for the sake of the country, the government should take steps to realize equality in education.
(China Daily 11/11/2009 page9)
