Abstract
The monograph is the eighth book in the School Education Abroad series (published by Karolinum since 2008). Books in the series systematically describe selected education systems and analyse the main issues and challenges that these systems face.
They also implicitly (and sometimes explicitly) compare these issues and challenges with those present in the Czech education system. The distinctive feature of each book is the combination of etic and emic viewpoints: Czech authors write from the position of cultural "outsiders", whilst foreign authors, who are always part of the team, provide the "insider's" view of the analysed issues.
The present book, School Education in China, is no exception. China has received significant attention in the Czech public debate in connection with various areas and issues related to (geo-)politics, public health or human rights, but its system and practice of education have been debated to a far lesser extent.
The book aims to comprehensively introduce the world's largest (and according to selected indicators also highly performing) education system to scholars and also the more general audience in the Czech Republic by providing structured information about China's cultural, geographical, historical, economic, political context, the main principles and institutions of Chinese education policy, the education system's history, structure, and mechanisms of transition between levels, private schools, the professions of principals and teachers, school curriculum, the assessment and evaluation of pupils, teachers, schools and the education system as a whole, the education of minorities, and foreign language education, thus preserving the same structure as previous monographs in the series. In order to achieve this goal, the authors have read, analysed, evaluated and referenced some 350 distinct sources of information on Chinese education, including scholarly monographs, journal articles, evaluation and assessment reports, official reports and statistics, laws, or dissertations.
Besides the existing data sources, the authors also collected their own empirical data through personal interviews with various stakeholders (Chinese educational experts at universities, principals, vice-principals, teachers, students, parents) and through direct observations in schools in Shanghai. The context of China is completely different from that of the Czech Republic; thus, it is also very difficult to adequately compare the two countries and their education systems.
In terms of size, the Chinese population (1.4 billion) is almost 140 times larger than the Czech one; the number of primary and secondary pupils (approximately 180 million) is about 133 times higher than in the Czech Republic, and the number of primary and secondary teachers (approximately 11 million) outnumbers Czech teachers 95:1. Steering and managing such a huge education system is a difficult task, and the central government (respectively Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China), which is on top of the hierarchy, delegates significant parts of the duties and responsibilities to lower level administrative units (provinces/municipal cities, prefectures, counties/districts).
The allocation of financial resources is partly central, partly local, and education in some less developed (rural) areas has to be subsidized with additional funds. Although China participates in OECD's large-scale international surveys PISA and TALIS, the sample consists of only a few provinces, and so the results are not representative of the whole mainland China.
Unlike in the Czech Republic, China's educational system is not explicitly tracked at the lower secondary level. Transitions are subject to entrance examinations between lower and upper secondary education level (the zhongkao exam) and then to tertiary level (the gaokao exam).
Especially the latter test is a high-stake event due to the large volume of competitors and the limited places at prestigious universities, and students work hard to succeed. This imperative is embedded in the culture, originating in the philosophy of Confucianism, and puts high value on learning, diligence and hard work, and also stresses the importance of teachers.
Although some sociological surveys in the Czech Republic suggest that the teaching profession is valued in the country, the position, prestige and perceived value of teachers in the society is vastly diminished compared to Chinese teachers, who receive a rigorous preparation and are required to participate in continuous professional development activities in order to stay in the profession and improve their position on the career ladder (the book devotes significant attention to this aspect of the teaching profession, which is currently missing in the Czech context). Following the global trends, which have also influenced the Czech curricular reform in a similar way, the school curriculum in China has been modernized to take into account developments in society and the expanded knowledge base of the twenty-first century, with an aim to improve students' competencies and replace the traditional transmissive ways of teaching and learning.
Yet, although much time has elapsed since the systemic implementation of these reforms, the changes still lag behind in their practical application. Evaluation and assessment in the Chinese education system is performed at several levels.
Evaluation of the education system is done by the Office of National Education Inspection, whose tasks and missions are somewhat similar to those of the Czech School Inspectorate. Schools undergo external evaluation by local inspectorates that are subordinate to the provincial ones.
The education of ethnic minorities in a multi-ethnic country like China offers a challenge that the Czech Republic does not have to face. Whilst dozens of languages and their dialects are spoken in China, the basic official language is Modern Standard Mandarin (Putonghua), which is spoken in schools.
English is the most popular foreign language that Chinese learn, but their English-speaking skills are often limited, which can be attributed to the high average number of students in a classroom (unlike in the Czech Republic, where the maximum number of students in a classroom during foreign language lessons is set to 15, in China it is often 40 or more), teaching methods, and the level of erudition - or lack thereof - of English teachers. To conclude, China's education system has been successful in practically eliminating illiteracy within a short span of years, and students in some of its regions top the world ladders in PISA tests.
On the other hand, many challenges - such as imbalances in educational developments across the country, heavy academic burden for students, and the need to improve students' self-learning abilities and ICT-enabled study - remain to be addressed and effectively solved in the future.