Imbalanced resources behind China's competitive education system

As China celebrates the 30th Teachers' Day on Wednesday, experts warn imbalanced distribution of education resources is harming the teachers' interests.

On Tuesday, about 70 teachers at a middle school in central China's Hubei Province went on strike in front of their school to express discontent about unfair treatment and welfare arrangements as they are not regarded as permanent teachers on the school's payroll like other teachers in the same school.

"Eager expansion has pushed some schools to enroll too many students, more than their normal capacity. In these cases, some of the schools have to resort to such 'off-staff' teachers," said Yang Rongwei, a researcher of the Institute of Educational Science under the Hunan University.

Earlier media reports reveal some middle schools in central China's Henan Province have more than 10,000 faculty and students, and in one school, the number even exceeded 20,000.

Beyond overcrowded schools, parents are on a continuous hunt for a top school suitable for their child.

In Beijing, the price for a home that will allow children to enter a famous primary school nearby can cost 200,000 yuan (32,000 U.S. dollars) per square meter or more, over three times the price of comparable homes without such privilege.

To curb irregularities in student admission procedures, China's education ministry has repeatedly stressed the rule that students should be enrolled in schools nearby their homes during nine-year compulsory education from primary to junior middle schools.

Earlier this year, the ministry issued a strongly-worded circular banning primary schools from enrolling students from outside their neighborhood.

However, the surge in nearby home prices indicates access to good schools are still a huge draw for parents and students, one that they are willing to pay big money for.

"I want my daughter to enter a good primary school, so she will have better chances to enter a good secondary school, and a good university..." an IT company employee told Xinhua anonymously.

The parents have their reasons to support such enthusiasm.

In 2012, students from Hengshui Middle School, a top middle school in north China's Hebei Province, dominated the college entrance exam in the province by taking up 86 percent of the province's quota for students entering Peking and Tsinghua University, China's two most prestigious universities.

During the 2013 college entrance exam, the province's top ten candidates in arts and six out of the top ten science candidates came from this middle school.

However, behind the glory of such "super schools," more schools are troubled by the scramble for students.

"We would say that good teachers have excellent students, but in some cases a teacher's achievements also owe to good students," a report in the China Youth Daily quoted Li Jun, a middle school principal in Guangxi, as saying.

"If the school can not come out in front in exam performances, students and parents will definitely vote with their feet," Li added.

Yang warned excessive emphasis on exam performance may affect the students' all-round development.

"All these problems," Yang summed up, "root from unreasonable resource distribution."

"Good schools have an advantage to other schools in terms of favorable financial backing and other support from the administrative organs, making them more attractive to good teachers, and this 'winner takes all' effect further exacerbates the contending among schools as well as among students," Yang said.

Yang disagrees with the "jungle law" in the education sector.

"Government should do its share to rectify the imbalance, such as granting more favorable conditions for schools in less-developed areas," he said.

Chu Zhaohui, a research fellow with the National Institute of Education Sciences, also proposed more rotation programs for teachers among different schools and regions to make abundant resources accessible for more students.

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday said more work is needed in poor western, rural, remote and island areas.

He promised education would be a priority, with increased government input and more reform.