With
With the disastrous"cultural revolution" (1966-76) coming to an end in 1976, major efforts were made to correct past wrongs. Economic development
began taking center stage throughout the country. As
the government started implementing reform and open
policies, China's education speeded up its own reform
and development.
Reform
of the educational system began in an all-round manner
in the mid-1980s. As a planned economy was giving way
to a market economy in the country, education authorities
began first of all reforming the part of the educational
system that was no longer compatible with the prevailing
economic system and social needs. In a change of the
highly centralized administrative system for education,
for example, some administrative powers were given to
local governments. Elementary education became mainly
the responsibility of local governments; and schools
were given more independent decision-making power in
higher education and vocational education. The existing
investment system
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under which the state made unified development plans
and provided budgetary appropriations for education
underwent a gradual change. According to changed rules,
government appropriations were used mainly to ensure
compulsory education expansion and as a major revenue
source for general higher education, while students
were required to gradually pay tuition for the non-compulsory
stages of education. Legislation in the field of education
was strengthened with remarkable results. The field
of education, where no law had existed previously, is
now the most heavily legislated except for the economic
field. Laws enacted and in effect in the educational
field include:Regulations on Academic Degrees of the
People's Republic of China (1980), Compulsory Education
Law of the People's Republic of China (1986), Teachers
Law of the People's Republic of China (1993), Education
Law of the People's Republic of China (1995), Vocational
Education Law of the People's Republic of China (1996),
and Higher Education Law of the People's Republic
of China (1998). Enacted are also 16 administrative
regulations and more than 200
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