Introduction

Education systems differ across different nations and states depending with the type of governance and the population in a given state. The education system in People’s Republic of china is a very distinct one given the large population base experienced in this country. Many scholars tend to believe that the history of education in china can be tracked back to the 16^th century. This is during the late “Xia Dynasty” which ruled between 1523-1027 B.C. the education in china brought about civilization in the state and education was only for the elites and the noble in the society[OECD, 2009]. The government of china has strived over the years to ensure that the education becomes basic and affordable to the country’s population.  Education in the republic of china should be accessible to every person regardless of the age, class, ethnicity or capabilities. Over the last few centuries, the government of china has made significant progress in the education sector.

History of education in china

The history of education in china dates can be traced to over 2000 years ago. During this period, education was only for the elites and only learned people could hold high positions in the society. However, there have been major developments in the sector especially with the advent of Confucianism which brought about increased accessibility in the education sector by the common people. Confucianism has since then become a major philosophy where Chinese teachings became the basis of the education system in the republic. It is however important to note that this philosophy was initially rejected and persecuted within the republic. This form of education system advocated for acquiring basic skills such as writing reading and arithmetic which are key for self-improvement. By 20^th century, the Confucianism system of education and imperial examinations were abolished as people argued that the system never encouraged scientific research and advancement.

As a result of discontent with the Confucianism system of education, the republic of china stated adopting the western education system since they believed this would make china a powerful country. In 1949, the country of china decided to establish a centralized and compulsory primary and secondary education which was run by the state under the ministry of education. This has helped the education sector to have major improvements which has led to significant decline in the illiteracy levels in the country[Spagnolo, 2010]. Chinese government has put in place strict laws that must ensure that all citizens in the country must attend primary education for at least six to nine years.  Higher education has also been embraced in the republic of china which has resulted in in increased emphasis in science and technology. Many colleges, polytechnics and other higher learning institutions have been established as a result of increasing accessibility of education.

Currently, the education system in the People’s Republic of china is basically divided into three categories namely; basic education, higher education and the adult education.  To start with, the basic education in china entails the pre-school education, primary education and regular secondary education. The basic education is governed by the compulsory law that stipulates that every child in this republic must have at least nine years of formal education.

Higher education has also been significantly strong in the republic of china. These are undergraduate learning programs offered in different colleges and universities in the republic of china. These programs run for between two to four years and offers both academic and vocational subjects. Some institutions of higher learning also offer programs that lead to masters or Ph.D. degrees[Kai 2012]. The last category of the education system in china is the adult education. This category overlaps the other two categories of education system in the education sector. The chines government has placed a lot of emphasis on providing basic education to the adult population which has not been able to realize the formal education. This has been realized through the workers primary schools, peasants’ primary schools and literacy classes. The adult in china have also a chance of getting educated through specialized TV programs. This offers a platform through which the adult in this country can be subjected to a formal learning process that will enable them acquire new skills. The adult higher education is also available to the adult population in the republic of china. This is offered through radio/TV universities, worker’s/peasants colleges, correspondence colleges as well as cadre institutes.  Most of these institutions offering adult higher education offer two- three years short courses with only a few that offer undergraduate programs.

Examination system

The examination system in the People’s Republic of china has also evolved significantly over the years. The civil service recruitment method and educational system forms the oldest form of examination system in the history of the Chinese republic.  This system was operational during the Han dynasty which ran between 206B.C – A.D. 220. This examination system was however abolished by the Ch’ing dowager empress Tz’uHsi in 1905 after heavy criticisms from the Chinese intellectuals. This is because the examination system was an expansion of the old Chinese system where senior positions and education was only for the elite in the society. Another form of examination system, that would enable recruitment of men to be on the basis of merit rather than out of political connection or family ties needed to be developed with a lot of urgency[Routledge , 2009].

It is for this reason that an examination system that would assess the success of a person in the education sector was inevitable. This is because education in the traditional china was perceived as the key to success in life. This lead to introduction of provincial examinations  whereby if a person passed these exams, the entire family would be raised to higher status of scholars whereby they would enjoy special privileges and prestige. Under this examination system, the Confucian classics were advanced since most of the texts studied were from this school of thought.

However, it is important to note that the evolution of the examination system in the Chinese education system did not stop at this. During the T’ang dynasty (618–906), the examination system was reviewed and reorganized to ensure better and efficientadministration. The intense memorization in the past examination systems was heavily criticized and emphasis on practical application in the education sector was inevitable[Goldschmidt, 2009]. This dynasty advocated for more practical approach in the examination sector to ensure that the graduates did not only memorize the theories but had better understanding of the practical aspects of the topic being tested.

Examination system was further changed under the Sung dynasty (960–1279). This was necessitated by the need to widen the examination scope under the Chinese education system. These reforms in the examination system were spearheaded by Wang An-shih whose main idea was to ensure that the examinees have a better understanding of the underlying concepts and ideas. He was also concerned with ensuring that the examinees have the ability to apply classical insights to temporary problems [Meyer, 2013]. This would be very critical in ensuring that the examination system is concerned with solving eminent problems in the society rather than just encouraging theoretical learning. Further reforms in the examination systems have also been activated such as the orthodox interpretation during the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) which was later considered obsolete as a result of the long time required to memorize the commentaries. In an attempt to modernize the republic of china, this was abolished and replaced with the western type of curriculum that offers the Chinese education system with the most suitable examination system.

Women and education

Women face a lot of discrimination in different fields in the republic of china. It is a common phenomenon that most women in this country are discouraged from performing [articular tasks which has also expanded in the education sector. For instance, women in china are discouraged from doing certain works by the country’s labor laws such as mining and construction. Female students also face similar discrimination in the fields of study. For instance, female are prohibited from applying for particular subjects such as engineering, geology and aerospace. The ministry of education in this country has defended this move claiming that this is as a result of respect to womanhood. The Confucian education system which has been deeply rooted in the republic of china has been oppressive to women. However, it is important to note that this discrimination has continuously faded over the years especially with the increased adoption of the modern and western education system.

When Chinese education started fading and beginning of modern system

The traditional education system in china had to fade at some point. Tis would be accelerated by the tremendous increase in the number of learned people in the republic of china.  Past the 20^th century, most of the people in china had access to basic education and thus had an active role in determining the direction of the education system in the country.  With the other western countries seemingly ahead of china, the country’s intellectuals played a great role in criticizing the traditional Chinese education system that resulted to designing of modern education system.

The traditional education system in china started fading in in 1644. This is after the people of the republic of china decided to ensure that china remains a powerful country as compared to its counterparts in the west. This encouraged adoption of the western education system and inter-border studies between china and other countries. In 1842, the first foreign language learning school was established in the republic of china which was critical in redefining the education sector in the republic of china.

Major reforms in international communication and cooperation were also critical in ensuring that the education sector in china reached greater heights. Since 1978 when reforms in international communication and cooperation were initiated in china, the development of abroad studying has been tremendous. Cross border communication understanding has been on the rise sine4 1978 which has resulted to an increase in the number of Chinese studying abroad and vice versa. Since then, china has sent more than 320,000 students to more than 100 countries and hosted almost a similar number from more than 160 countries and regions. This has been very instrumental in ensuring both bilateral and multilateral developments between china and other countries are realized. This played a great role achieving the modern education in the republic of china.

What is the education system in china currently

The education system in china has developed over the years to remain as competitive and relevant as it is in other developed countries. The development from Confucianism system of education to the modern education system has enabled the country to realize major developments over the years.  Currently, the education system in the country is managed by the state through the ministry of education. It has been the obligation of the government to ensure that education is accessible to all regardless of their ages, gender, color or disabilities. Most of the population in the republic of china is educated thus bringing down the level of illiteracy in the country to significantly low levels[OECD, 2005].

Since the founding of the peoples republic of china, the basic education has registered development and achievement. This is because the number of people who get the basic education is increasing every day which is in accordance with the government’s plan. For instance, in 2010 there were over 138,000 kindergartens with an enrolment of more than 15 million young children. The number of primary school was also equally high which can be evidenced by the high numbered of teachers and non-teaching staff in the primary schools in the republic of china. The number of pupils enrolling in these primary schools has also been on a tremendous rise over the years. The Nine Year Compulsory Education initiated by the government have been effective and universalized thus ensuring that the basic educations available to all. The embracing of inter boundary studies by the republic of china has also been on the rise. This has resulted to increase funding in the education sector especially from UNESCO, UNIECF, UNFPA, UNDP, World Bank and many other international organizations.

Conclusion

Peoples republic of china is the most populous country in the planet and has the most unbalanced economic and culture development. However, it is important to note that the education system in the country has been instrumental to the country’s current status in terms of economic development and cultural differences. Previous studies indicates that a great [percentage of the population have access to higher education and this could be key to the tremendous growth in the country[Meyer, 2013]. The flying development in science and technology in the country can be attributed to the ever evolving education system in the country. China, just like any other Asian country developed its own education system which finally evolved to the modern education system. In conclusion, the education system will tend to be universal globally provided it offers positive effects to the country in question. China has had its strategy well laid out which has been instrumental in making china one of the powerhouse in academics.

(Works cited)

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