(XINHUA)

Fair play

With the opening of the first National Education Work Conference in the 21st century, this round of education reform aims to address almost all the major issues in education that China is facing today. Most notable are education imbalances, the excessive academic workload of students and the growing education bureaucracy.

Wang thinks there are a few highlights in this reform. "The Outline elaborates on education of different levels separately," Wang said. For example, for pre-school education, it lists the task, goal and measures to realize it. Second, according to Wang, there are detailed interpretations on how to popularize high school learning and develop the lifelong education, ethnic education and special education. In addition, it specifies concrete measures to guarantee the education spending, welfare of teachers and the education informationization.

Talking about the future direction for the education reform and development, Yuan Guiren, Minister of Education, said there are two central tasks in the future: ensuring education fairness and improving education quality. The first is to ensure every school-age child has an equal opportunity to enter school, and the second is to offer students a good education. Over the last few decades, while education in China has made significant achievements, unfairness and low-quality education still exist among different regions and groups, especially between rural and urban areas. For this round of education reform, the Central Government vows to prioritize the development of education while ensuring fairness in the system.

"Education fairness is the foundation of social fairness, of which the basic requirement is to ensure every individual's right to education," said Yuan.

Brain gain

"Brain gain" has emerged as key buzzwords in the proposed reform.  China has pledged to increase its talent pool from 114 million to 180 million by the year 2020, with spending on human resources accounting for up to 15 percent of the country's GDP. In sharp contrast to this is the recent sharp rise in the "brain drain." Studying overseas at a young age has become a popular trend for young people and many students choose universities abroad instead of competing in the tough CEE (College Entrance Examination) at home.

"I hope my son can enjoy the best education. Now that I can afford to send him abroad, then why not?" said Li Mei (not her real name),who comes from Hubei Province and runs her business in Beijing. She plans to send her son to an international middle school in Beijing affiliated to the Cambridge University in the UK. Graduates from this school will have more chances to enter into Cambridge. "I'll get him well prepared for going abroad as early as possible," explained Li.

According to a survey conducted by sina.com, over 50 percent of the post-90s students said CEE is not their only choice, and they will consider choosing to study abroad should the opportunity arise. Many students think overseas study will offer them a more prosperous future, with a wider range of choices in terms of university, curriculum and admission possibilities.

Although many people worry that young students going abroad for higher education will lead to a loss of talent in China, Yang Yu, CCTV commentator, believes it is beneficial for the young generation. "As long as parents can afford to do so and have seriously considered their children's future, it is a good thing that some young people can go abroad to receive more advanced education," said Yang. He also warns, on the other hand, that parents should be rational and realistic about this trend. "First, parents should consider whether they can afford the high spending of overseas study. Besides, they should be clear about which type of education is the most suitable for their children," Yang said.

China Education Spending

Year         Spending ($ bn)

2000            49

2001            62

2002            73

2003            83

2004            97

2005           112

2006           128

2007           142

2008           167

2009          183

2010          200

Sources: Global Education Digest, UNESCO Institute for Statistics 2007; China's Ministry of Education; and National Bureau of Statistics of China