Session Information
WERA SES 08 A, The Education of Diverse Students: A Multi-Country Perspective
Symposium
Contribution
The report starts with a general historical overview of the development of the education in China since 1980s, and then focuses on the issue of minority education. People's Republic of China is a multiethnic and multilingual country with 56 ethnic minority groups. With Han Chinese being the majority, accounting for 91.59% of the overall Chinese population, the other 55 groups make up the 8.41% based on the National Population Census of 2000. Disparity of educational resources exists between the majority and minority groups in China. China’s ethnic minority groups still face the problems of poverty and illiteracy. For example, while some wealthy families from China send their children to study abroad at private schools, many minority villages still need schools for their children. The study used secondary data, and original government policies and reports as sources. About one hundred academic journal articles and twenty-seven books published since 1980 on education in China and on minority education in particular that met selection criteria were reviewed and analyzed for emerging common themes and trends; and government policies implemented in the past thirty years and reports (China Education and Research Network, n.d.) were reviewed and evaluated critically. This study critically analyses and describes the current status of the education of minorities in China, the challenges, and government policies and practices implemented to handle the situation. Since the 1980s, the increased government funding, compulsory education policy, efforts to eliminate adult illiteracy, bilingual education policy, support for minority higher education, development of minority relevant curriculum, and training of minority teachers have shown effects. Challenges still exist in terms of quality teachers, quality education, insufficient funding, and equal distribution of resources and technology. The gap between the education of minority and majority is still very wide in many areas. Thus, further efforts are called for to improve and reform the education for minority groups in China.
References
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