This paper presents an ethnographic interpretation of education as a social technology of state sovereign power and governing in the borderlands of contemporary China. Illustrated with snapshots from ethnographic fieldwork conducted in a Pumi (Premi) ethnic village located along China's south-western territorial margins, it is argued that the…

Despite requirements of and support for universal education up to grade 9, there are concerning reports that poor rural areas in China suffer from high and maybe even rising dropout rates. Although aggregated statistics from the Ministry of Education show almost universal compliance with the 9-year compulsory education law, there have been few…

This article examines the features of second-generation rural migrants and the challenges facing them in terms of schooling and employment. There is a gap that is hard for them to step over: barriers against social inclusion. The article concludes that poverty tends to pass on to the next generation and fossilize. Therefore, it is vital to…

After a brief review of the achievements and the problems in compulsory education enrollment in the thirty years since the reform and opening up, this study analyzes the current compulsory education enrollment and dropout rates in China's least-developed regions and the factors affecting school enrollment based on survey data from a small sample…

Due to imbalanced social and economic development, education in poverty-stricken rural areas in China is lagging behind that of urban areas. The current study explores the role of the nonprofit organizations (NPOs) involved in rural compulsory education promotion. Results show that the NPOs are providing a variety of programs to promote rural…

This paper explores the neo-liberal policies and practice embraced in the process of the economic and social changes in China over the last three decades and their impacts on the country's education system, particularly on the compulsory education of migrant children who relocate from rural to urban China with their parents. On the basis of…

The "two exemptions and one subsidy" (TEOS) policy presages the coming of an era of free education in compulsory education. Actually, the agricultural and pastoral districts of China's Tibet Autonomous Region had already experienced policies of free compulsory education in the mid-1980s, that is, the "three guarantees"…

An overview of the historical development of China's model for promoting compulsory education in rural areas indicates that it has two basic characteristics. The first is assuring a stable foundation for material support and expanding the provision of education by adopting measures to reduce operating costs. The second is raising the level of…

The educational inequity of rural workers' children is a unique social problem in the transition stage of China. Based on the specific survey in such provinces as Hubei, Henan, Anhui, and other provinces, a conclusion can be drawn that the reasons for the educational inequity of rural worker's children are very complicated, among which the system…

Since 1986 when the National People's Congress ratified the Compulsory Education Law, China's achievement of nine-year compulsory basic education for its huge school-age population has been rapid and successful. However, the rate of achievement has grown unevenly across the country, reflecting the different economic development patterns of the…

This study traces education and change over two decades in three areas, Tongzhou on the periphery of Beijing chosen as one of the richest 300 counties in 1990; Ansai in Yan'an which was one of the poorest 300 counties and a famous base for the 8th Route Army at the end of the Long March, and Zhaojue a poor Yi national minority area in the…

Rural compulsory education is a very weak link in the development of China's education system. For many years, an education fiscal input mechanism with the township as the main player was adopted for supporting China's rural compulsory education. In May 2001, China's rural compulsory education was placed under an administrative system of…

After the implementation of the "two exemptions and one subsidy" (TEOS) policy and between the spring of 2006 and 2007, China's western, central, and eastern regions introduced a new mechanism for guaranteeing rural compulsory education. This mechanism resulted in great changes in the environment for implementing TEOS and, in addition,…

By applying the multivariable method to elementary school data in one western province, this study shows that per-student budgetary nonpersonnel expenditure in the province is the most unequal index in terms of horizontal equity. In terms of vertical equity, the equity effect of the "poor county" designation by the central or provincial…

Compulsory education in China's rural areas has come a long way since China adopted the policy of reform and opening up to the outside world toward the end of 1978. By 2004, compulsory education had become available and illiteracy had been eliminated among 93.6 percent of the nation's total population; the enrollment rate of school-age children…