In China, elementary education includes pre-school, nine-year compulsory education of elementary and junior high schools, regular senior high school education, special education for handicapped children, and elimination of illiteracy.
At present, there are over 200 million elementary and secondary school students, which number, together with that of pre-school children, accounts for one-sixth of the total Chinese population. Therefore the Central Government has given priority to the development of elementary education, regarding it a key field of development of infrastructure construction and education.
Regular senior high school education in recent years is developing steadily, with 6.77 million enrolled students throughout the country in 2002, 2.8 times the 1988 figure. At present, the gross enrollment ratio of senior high schools of the whole country is 42 percent, far less than that of developed countries.
The government has earmarked special funds to improve the conditions of running elementary and secondary schools. Besides building and expanding schoolhouses, the government has also appropriated a special subsidy of three billion yuan in the past two years for renovation of dilapidated buildings of elementary and secondary schools in rural areas. The average educational budget for elementary and secondary school students has risen greatly, and instruments and equipment for teaching and scientific research and books and materials are renewed and replenished every year. The goal in China's elementary education is to raise the general level of elementary education to or close to that of a moderately developed country by 2010.
