REPUBLIC O F CHINA*
1. A Brief Statistical Overview of the Development of Higher Education in the People's Republic of China
1.1. Undergraduate Education
In 1949, there were only 205 regular higher educational institutions in the whole of China, with a total student enrolment of 116,504. T h e number of institutions reached 434 in 1965 with a total enrolment of 674,436. A s a direct consequence of the disruption caused by the Cultural Revolution, the number of institutions dwindled to 328 in 1971 with the total enrolment shrinking to a mere 83,400. After the downfall of the Gang of Four, China's higher educa- tional system has been gradually rehabilitated and is being steadily developing.
B y the end of 1983, the number of universities and colleges reached 805, with a total enrolment of 1,207,000, almost doubling that of 1977. Table 1 (page 73) shows the essential statistics for some selected years.
Table 2 (page 73) shows the percentage breakdown of undergraduate enrolment by field of study. F r o m the information given, it can be easily discerned that the humanities and social sciences have been neglected for quite a long time.
Only recently have vigorous steps been taken to remedy this situation b y en- rolling more students in these fields.
1.2. Postgraduate Education
In comparison with the scale of undergraduate education, that of post- graduate education in China is too smal to meet the needs of the country for high-level professional manpower with advanced degrees. Yet even prior to the onset of the Cultural Revolution, 'leftist' mistakes prevented a vigorous development of postgraduate training in Chinese higher educational and re- search institutions. University teachers had to be recruited mostly from grad-
* This article is a slightly revised version of the paper which the author presented at the Vth World Congress on Comparative Education held in Paris, July 2 through 6, 1984.
64
Reform of Higher Education in Chinauates without any exposure to advanced training. Chinese educational and research undertakings suffered a great deal as a result of these circum- stances.
Postgraduate education had a very modest beginning during the early fifties. T h e enrolment of postgraduate students in universities and colleges had reached 6,130 in 1962, the highest figure attained before the onslaught of the Cultural Revolution, and then gradually dwindled to 3,409 in 1966 and to zero in 1969. In 1978, a n e w start w a s m a d e at a time w h e n total enrolment stood at 8,306 students. It grew to 17,728 in 1980, 21,284 in 1982, and 30,559 in 1983. F r o m 1978 to 1983, the cumulative intake of postgraduate students w a s 52,145 and the total output w a s 19,462. Table 3 shows the intake of post- graduates b y discipline and b y percentage of distribution.
Table 3 Intake of Master's Degree Postgraduate Students for 1983 (including those
admitted to research institutes)
Philosophy Economics Law
Teacher Education Literature
History
Natural Sciences Engineering Agriculture Medicine
G R A N D TOTAL
226 672 442 150 690 326 3,283 6,946 845 1,555 15,134
1.5%
4.4%
2.9 1.0%
4.6%
2.2%
21.7%
45.9%
5.6%
10.2%
100
Of the grand total of 15,134, 8 3 . 7 % or 12,674 are enrolled in universities and colleges. Altogether about 350 higher education institutions and over 300 research institutes are involved in the training of postgraduates.
T w o abortive efforts were m a d e to institute academic degrees in the mid-1950's and early 1960's. Serious work on this important issue w a s resumed in February, 1979, under the direct guidance of Jiang Nanxiang, then Minister of Education. T h e first Academic Degree Statute ever instituted in the People's Republic of China w a s promulgated in February, 1980, and took effect on January 1, 1981.
A s of January 1984, 196 units in higher educational and research insti- tutions have been authorized b y the State Council through its Academic Degree Committee to offer doctoral programmes and to award doctorates, with a total of 1,128 separate programmes. A total of 1,756 professors and senior scientists have been n a m e d as supervisors of doctoral work, and 425 units have been authorized to offer master's degree programmes with a total of 4,237 separate programmes. B y the end of 1983, 29 domestic doctorates and 18,143 master's degrees had been awarded.
H. Shiqi
65
Í.3. Higher Education for Adults
T h e Chinese Government has always paid great attention to the develop- m e n t of adult education. However, statistics relating to adult education are incomplete and m u c h less reliable than the statistics given for the regular edu- cation system. Therefore, the enrolment figures and the numbers of graduates given in Table 4 must be interpreted with caution. According to the statistics for 1983, the enrolment figure for higher adult education w a s 1,128,000 which included enrolment in correspondence and evening schools, radio and T V uni- versities, and enrolment in m u c h shorter courses for the in-service training of secondary school teachers.
Of the various forms of adult education, correspondence education has had the longest history. T h e correspondence education divisions attached to m a n y teachers colleges have contributed greatly to the upgrading of currently
employed secondary school teachers.
T h e Central Radio and T V University w a s established jointly b y the Ministry of Education and the Central Administration for Broadcasting (now succeeded b y the Ministry of Radio and Television). It w a s formally inaugu- rated in February, 1979, after a year of preparation. T h e n 28 provincial radio and T V universities were set u p in quick succession. These 29 institutions form a network that administers distance teaching b y combining the advantages of radio and T V broadcasting and guided study b y printed materials, some- times supplemented b y correspondence teaching and face-to-face tutorials.
T h e Central Radio and T V University has enrolled nearly 1.2 million registered students since its founding. It n o w offers a variety of courses catering to differ- ent needs, including courses in Chinese, English, physics, electronics, basic mechanical engineering, economics, and m a n a g e m e n t sciences.
A recent innovation in the realm of adult education is the possibility of acquiring higher education qualifications through self-study and the passing of an examination. In 1981, the Ministry of Education issued the "Regulations Regarding Higher-Education-Through-Self-Study Examinations", which pro- vides that all Chinese citizens, irrespective of age and previous education, can take part in this examination, and, if requirements are m e t , be recognized as equivalents of college graduates.
B y the end of 1983, committees for higher-education-through-self-study examinations have been set u p in 22 provinces and municipalities — Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Liaoning being the pioneers. T h e Ministry of Education has established a national steering committee for higher-education-through- self-study examinations. In the latter half of 1983, 2700,000 self-learners sat for examinations administered b y this system. These examinations involved 136 courses relating to 26 specialities. A significant proportion of the exami- nees acquired certificates (200,000 man-courses out of 430,000 man-courses were regarded as successful).
66
Reform of Higher Education in ChinaTable 4 Enrolment of Higher Educational Institutions for Adults and Number of
Graduates*
Year 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965
Enrolment 0.1 0.4 1.6 4.1 10 13 16 64 76 150 300 793 410 404 418 445 413
N u m b e r of Graduates
— —
—
1.7 2.4 3.0 1.3 3.1 5 4 8 18 36 33 43 42Year 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983
Enrolment 17 146 214 729 2,629**
1,739 1,408 1,722 1,554 1,346 1,173 1,128
N u m b e r of Graduates
443 6 6 38 357 620 510 321 336 315 425 235
* The numbers of graduates include students w h o finished one or two courses only.
* The highly inflated figures for 1976 and several succeeding years reflect the proliferation of July 21 universities during those years.
1.4. Additional Statistical Information
Table 5 (page. 74) portrays the Basic Statistics of Regular Higher Education Institutions, and Table 6 (page. 75) portrays Public Expenditure on Education for 1950 — 1982. Both tables are taken from a forthcoming publication entitled,
"Achievement of Education in China — Statistics 1949-1983", a bilingual edition published by the People's Education Press.
The data on public expenditure for education do not include the outlays for capital investment. In recent years, a vast amount of resources has been allocated to capital investment in new buildings so as to keep pace with the expansion of higher education. During the six year period, 1978-1983, 5,473 million yuan were spent on capital investment, an average of 912 million yuan per year.
2. Recent Trends in the Development of Higher Education