Contribution of Development of China's Higher Education to Human Rights Undertaking
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Human rights are the rights and freedoms of humans in their nature, and represent the basic conditions for the free and complete development of the humankind. The educational development level is an important mark of the level of realization of human rights. China's higher education realized the historic development in the 1998-2007 period, and the number of the enrolled students at common colleges and universities across the nation had exploded from 3.4 million to 18.85 million, the number one in the world. This has laid a solid foundation for China to develop into a powerful nation of human resources from a large-population nation. The domestic and foreign comments are mixed on the vigorous efforts by the Chinese Government to develop the higher education when the economic and financial conditions are still very limited. However, in the perceptive of the security of human rights, the historic development of China's higher education is definitely of positive and significant strategic importance to the development of China's human rights undertaking.
1.Ten-year historic development of China's higher education
China's higher education has witnessed the swift development over the past decade. The gross enrolment rate of China's higher education jumped from 9.8% in 1998 to 15% in 2002, and further to 23% in 2007. At the same time, the expenditure on the higher education has also grown considerably, a result of the expenditure diversified investing mechanism for the higher education. The national higher education expenditure only totaled at CNY 54.9 billion in 1998, including the fiscal education expenditure of CNY 35.7 billion. By 2005, the total higher education expenditure jumped by 460%, or an average annual growth of 24.5%, to CNY 255 billion, while the fiscal education expenditure for common colleges and universities soared 310%, or an average growth of 17.3%, to CNY 109.1 billion. During the period between 1998 and 2006, the land area of the common colleges and universities throughout the country grew 260%, the educational and administrative buildings increased by 370%, the value of the educational equipment and devices rose 470%, and the fixed assets raised 640%. All of these have ensured the continuous improvement of the educational conditions.
Take Nankai University for instance. The number of the enrolled undergraduates and postgraduates doubled from 10,659 in 1998 to 21,905 in 2006. The educational undertaking expenditure swelled 345% to CNY 850 million in 2006 from nearly CNY 247 million in 1998. At the same time, China has also mobilized various social forces to engage in the higher education. At present, there are a total of almost 300 private common colleges across the nation, and 300-strong independent schools under universities.
2. Strategic significance of development of higher education to realization of basic rights of citizens
In the perceptive of the overall national development strategy, the development of China's higher education has, first of all, exerted the far-reaching influence on the future economic development. It has considerably enhanced the scientific temperament of the population of China, and created a solid foundation for the country to grow into a powerful nation of human resources from the world's most populous nation. In the perceptive of the personal development of citizens and security of rights, it has the positive significance as well.
First, it has satisfied the appetite of citizens for a higher educational level, and provided a more complete security for the right of citizens to education. The right to education is one of the basic human rights, and refers to the right of citizens to receive cultural education and the material aid for the realization thereof. The first sentence of Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights expressly announces that everyone has the right to education. Article 46 of the Chinese Constitution clearly stipulates that citizens of the People's Republic of China have the duty as well as the right to receive education. China has a long-standing cultural tradition of paying importance to education, and considers education itself as a fundamental requirement of the life. For education, Chinese can give up many other opportunities and leisure in life, and to realize the dream of a child to go to university, a whole family can work industriously and make sacrifice. The founding of the People's Republic of China has brought the higher education to a fire-new stage, and at the same time created the reliable talent security for a modernized China. After the reform and opening up, the demand of people for the higher education has increasingly risen to a new level amid the swift economic growth and rapid increase in the personal incomes. At the same time, China faces growing fierce international competition amid the expanding opening up to the outside world, as well as the long-term pressure from the economic and technological edges of developed countries. Just in this context, the Chinese Government has firmly implemented the strategy of revitalizing the nation with science and education, and made great efforts to develop the higher education even when the financial resources are still very tight, thereby providing the more adequate practical conditions for the right of Chinese citizens to education.
Secondly, the historic development of the higher education has provided more favorable conditions for the improvement of the income level of citizens and the realization of the basic rights of citizens. To receive the higher education can enhance the knowledge and skill level of citizens, improve the working opportunities and efficiency of citizens and accordingly increase their income level. To this effect, the higher vocational education has played an extremely important role. To satisfy the demand of the citizens for the higher vocational education, the Chinese Government has spared no effort to develop the higher vocational education in recent years. In 2007, the number of the higher vocational schools in China was more than 1,000, a sharp rise over the less than 100 ones in 2000. Almost every municipal city in China has set up at least one college or university, and the higher vocational education has taken up half of the higher education. At the same time, the population having received the higher education has exceeded 70 million, which enables China to come at the world's second place in terms of the labor force with the degree of the higher education.
Thirdly, the historic development of the higher education has provided a larger space for citizens to seek the personal development, and created the more adequate security for the realization of the right of citizens to development. The Declaration on the Right to Development passed by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1986 stresses that the right to development is a human right that cannot be deprived of. The first sentence of Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights explicitly states that education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. With the fast-growing standard of living of the Chinese people, the fundamental living demands of people have generally been satisfied more completely. In this context, the desire of people for further personal development is getting increasingly strong, and the target has kept rising. To develop the higher education with great efforts will create the opportunities for citizens to receive a higher and more extensive education, definitely provide a more enormous space for the free development of citizens and offer more adequate conditions for the realization of the right of citizens to development.
Last, the historic development of the higher education has provided the practical foundation for the realization of the political rights of citizens. With the steady progress of the reform of the political system in China, the wishes of citizens to more participate in the decision-making on public affairs have become increasingly strong. One of the important conditions for expanding the participation of the general public is that citizens have received good education, particularly the higher education, so that they have broader understanding of public affairs and have the appropriate ability to analyze, compare and judge the problems and various solutions associated with the public affairs. All of these require the development of the higher education so that more citizens will receive the trainings needed. In this sense, the historic development of the higher education will build an important foundation for the development of the democratic politics in China and the ordered political participation by citizens.
The above analysis indicates that the historic development of China's higher education has made significant contribution to the human right undertaking, reflects the Chinese Government pays much importance to and actively advances the human rights undertaking, and will definitely provide a more enormous space for the development of China's human right undertaking.
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