Qizhou in Qichun County of
Hubei
Province is an important economic and cultural town, famous for
its high-quality education in particular. There is a street famed
as "Doctors' Street" for having brought up more than 10 scholars
who received doctorate degree. There are two middle schools and 32
elementary schools in the town.
Eight teachers and 11 part-time teachers left the middle schools
this spring, in addition to the 77 off-payroll teachers who left
their elementary schools. The reason of their leave was that they
were not well-paid.
In
the past, the tuition fee was 180 yuan (US$21.7) per semester for
elementary school and 450 yuan (US$54.4) for junior high school.
Now the fees have been decreased to 80 yuan (US$9.6) per semester
for elementary school and 150 yuan (US$18.1) for junior high
school. As a result of the deduction, the schools can afford only
65 percent of the salaries of their teachers on the payroll, and
those off-payroll teachers get only 250 yuan (US$30.2) each as
their monthly salary. Now, because of the lack of teachers, classes
cannot be opened normally and a total of 432 junior high and
elementary students have quitted school.
Tangyuan Elementary School used to have 10 teachers for its seven
classes of different grades. Up to date, only five of its teachers
remain on their teaching posts. To manage this difficult situation,
classes of different grades have to merge and students of different
age groups have to crowd into one classroom. When the teacher
teaches lessons to the students of one grade, the other students
have to turn round to study by themselves.
In
Wangyao Village, the farmers told their stories. Nine of the
village school's 14 teachers have left, leaving the remaining five
to teach eight classes. Villager Zhang Jinhua said now her
six-grade son has to study by himself because of the lack of
teachers.
According Zhan Shihe, a villager in Huaishu Village, the farmers'
burden for education has been reduced from 170 yuan (US$20.5) to 32
yuan (US$3.9). Before the reform, farmers worried about paying the
high tuition fee; now they worry even more because there are no
more teachers to teach their kids. A few days ago, the villagers
pooled up 5,000 yuan (US$604) for inviting their teachers back, but
neither the school nor the village dare to take the money for the
fear of being punished as rampant charging, as regulated in
governmental documents.
According to the deputy director of county education bureau, among
the county's 11,697 teachers and faculty, 1,628 are off-payroll
teachers, and 2,478 are part-time. Since 2001, the county
government has been taking care of the teachers' salaries, by
paying basic salaries for the teachers on the payroll and 3,000
yuan for each off-payroll teacher. There is no budget for the
payment of part-time teachers. After the reduction of tuition
charge, the government revenue for education decreased by more than
100 million yuan (US$12 million). Now it is difficult to ensure the
income of off-payroll and part-time teachers. That is why many
teaches have left their schools to find jobs outside their
hometowns.
The director of the county finance bureau explained that the total
revenue of the county government is 140 million yuan (US$16.9
million) and of which, more than 60 million yuan (US$7.2 million)
is spent for education. After the reform of taxation, the county
receives 43 million yuan (US$5 million) from the provincial
government every year and 26 million (US$3.1 million) of it is
allocated to education. Still, there is no way to ensure all
teachers' income.
According to Han Xixiang, deputy director of the finance section of
Hubei Provincial Education Department, the problem of teacher drain
is common in poor rural areas. Though the state has taken some
measures, such as reforming the management system of compulsory
education in rural areas and putting in more money for education,
it is still difficult for some poor areas to maintain the basic
educational expense. Now, the farmers' burden has changed its
nature, from being over-charged to lacking teachers for the
compulsory education of their kids.
(China.org.cn by Wu Nanlan April 18, 2003)