Path and the standards of rural school consolidation in China since 2000

Abstract

The one-child policy implemented by governments in China since 1971 and the large-scale migration of people from the countryside to cities since the 1980s have led to a natural reduction in number and space flow of school-aged children in the countryside. This has compelled education departments to promote a larger scale of rural school closure and consolidation. Closure and consolidation of rural primary and middle schools in China exhibit the following macro features. First, the scale of rural school closure and consolidation was the largest in the first 10 years of the twenty-first century (or 2000-2010). From 1976 to 2016, approximately 946, 100 compulsory schools including primary and middle schools disappeared. A total of 386, 500 schools among them were shut down between 2000 and 2016, accounting for 41% of the total number of schools that disappeared in the past 40 years. On average, approximately 66 schools disappeared every day. Moreover, from 2000 to 2010, the decrease in the number of schools was the highest (about 304, 100 schools), and approximately 83 schools were closed every day on average. Second, school consolidation has primarily occurred in rural areas since 2000. A total of 357, 000 compulsory schools that disappeared after 2000 were rural schools, accounting for 92.36% of the total number (about 386, 500 schools). Approximately 61 compulsory schools in the countryside were shut down every day. Third, rural primary schools were the main target of school consolidation. A total of 333, 900 primary schools in rural areas were closed, accounting for 93.53% of the total decreasing number of rural schools (about 357, 000) and 86.39% of the total decreasing number of schools in urban and rural areas. Why did rural schools disappear rapidly after 2000? What is the development trend? What are the standards for rural school closure and consolidation in China? These are the research questions to be addressed in the chapter.