CHINESE YOUTH OVERVIEW

(Download Chinese Youth overview as a PDF)

DEMOGRAPHICS

Population: 1,273,111,290 (Ranked 1^st in the world by the US Census Bureau). Population density: 341 per square mile. Children 0-14: 25%—318,353,010. Teenage 10-19: 17.5%—222,794,010. Youth between 15-24: 15.4%—195,903,191. Seniors Over 70: 4.3%—54,715,142. Male to female ratio: 105.8 males per 100 females. Birth rate: 16.12 per 16.12 per 1,000 people. Life expectancy at birth: 68.82 for males and 71.9 for females. Infant mortality rate: 41.14 per 1,000 live births.

EDUCATIONAL LANDSCAPE

The Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China is the administrator of education in China. As such, it is responsible for all laws and standards pertaining to education. Education is mandatory, according to Chinese law.

There are four components of China’s education system: basic education, occupational/polytechnic education, common higher education, and adult education. Basic education covers at least twelve years (6 primary, 6 middle [middle includes 3 years junior, 3 years senior], and preschool). As of 1999, there were almost 600,000 primary schools, with an enrollment of over 135 million. Over 99% of primary school age children participated, and the retention rate was over 92%. There were more than 64,000 junior middle schools, with an admission of almost 22 million (over 58 million enrolled). There were over 14,000 senior middle schools, with an admission of almost 4 million (more than 10 million enrolled). There were over 1,500 schools opened for disabled children (deaf, deaf-mute, learning disabled), so that over half of all disabled children had access to education. There were over 180,000 kindergartens, with an enrollment of over 23 million.

Occupational and polytechnical education consists of professional schools, polytechnic schools, occupational middle schools and short-term occupational and technical training programs. In 1997, there were more than 33,000 schools in this division, with an enrollment of over 18 million.

Common higher education includes junior college, bachelor, and master’s programs and doctoral degree programs. More than 3,400 higher education institutions have been approved by the government, with positions for more than 3 million students.

Adult education includes anti-illiteracy education and topics of interest to adults. It is thought that more than 12% of China’s rural labor force (80 million people) has taken advantage of China’s adult education programs.

ISSUES

China’s large population is one of the most important issues in education. The government is constantly challenged by the necessity of educating over 1 billion people. In addition, China is a large and geographically diverse nation. Though there is a central administration, it is often difficult to enforce standards and regulations country-wide.

SOURCES

UNESCO Statistics Division.

US Central Intelligence Agency. World Factbook.

Freedom House.