Primary
and Secondary Education
Primary and secondary education
in China is composed of three stages: primary school, junior middle
school and senior middle school, with a length of study of 12 years
altogether. Generally, the length of study in primary schools is
six years; junior middle schools, three years; and senior middle
schools, three years. Primary and junior middle school education
is compulsory. Children who have reached the age of six may enter
primary schools. Where junior middle school education is basically
universal, students who have graduated from primary schools may,
without examination, advance to the appropriate junior middle schools.
Junior middle school graduates may enter senior middle schools after
passing examinations set by the local education authorities.
Since the issuing of the Compulsory
Education Law of the PRC in 1986, governments at all levels have
actively promoted nine-year compulsory education, and made remarkable
achievements. Throughout the nation, nearly 1,500 counties, cities
and municipal districts have basically instituted nine-year compulsory
education, with a population coverage of about 50 percent. Senior
middle school education is now virtually universal in large and
medium-sized cities and the coastal areas, where the economy is
fairly well developed.
