Education

Since 1978, China has adopted the education policy of "nine-year compulsory schooling system", which means all children are required to attend school for at least nine years. During the period, students will finish both the primary school program and the junior middle-school program. For higher education, students must pass examinations of all levels. First, one should pass the entrance examination for senior middle schools or middle-level technical schools. Then after two, three or four years, one may sit in for the national college entrance examination which usually take place on July 7 to 9. Due the grueling weather and the stress one bears all those days, the month of July is widely nicknamed the "black July."

• Pre-school Education
  

  Children aged from 3 to 6 usually attend kindergartens near their neighborhoods, where they learn the basics of the native language. And since most of the teachers are female, they are told to play games of all kinds, learn to dance, to sing and to act. Besides, the inculcation of values and virtues such as "Truth, Kindness and Beauty" into the children is one of the top priorities on the teaching agenda among kindergartens and child care centers throughout the country.

• Primary School Education
  

  Previously the primary school education requires 5 years and now has been lengthened to six years. During the period, pupils are required to take a variety of subjects such as the Chinese language, fundamental mathematics and moral education. They are also taught to take part in sports and extra-curriculum activities. In recent years, foreign languages such as English become an optional course in the later part of this six-year period.

• High School Education
  

  This part of education is divided into two parts: three-year junior high school program and senior. From junior high school, students begin to learn a variety of science subjects such as chemistry, physics and biology. Besides, they are taught the Chinese history and that of foreign countries. Geography is also a required course. Educators of all levels attach great importance to the teaching of English---the official second language---in most of the high schools. At the same time, physical education is enthusiastically encouraged. 
  
  Senior high school education is a continuation of that in junior high schools. But it is more than that. Students begin to take greater interest in some specific subject and they are encouraged to do so. In order to create more competition among them, a variety of contests are organized annually in all levels. The "Olympic Series" are the most noticeable ones. Despite this, the most important thing for them is the preparation for the national college entrance examination. Usually, two sets of examinations are designed out of the consideration that students are labeled as science students or arts students.

• Higher Education
  

  The main task of higher education in China is to train specialists for all the sectors of the country's development. Universities, colleges and institutes, which make up China's higher educational system, offer four- or five-year undergraduate programs as well as special two-or three year programs. Students who have completed a first degree may apply to enter graduate schools.
  
  Admission
  China's institutions of higher learning operate on a centralized enrolment system in which admissions committees at the provincial level operate under the aegis of the Ministry of Education. As a rule, admission is granted on the basis of academic, physical and moral qualifications, though allowances are made for minority nationality and overseas Chinese candidates. 
  
  The nationwide examinations are given during the first ten days of July. The tests themselves, issued by the Ministry of Education, fall into two categories: the humanities, and the sciences and engineering. While candidates may sit for only one of the two, they may list the institutions and departments they wish to enter in order of preference. Enrolment is then determined in the light of examination results. Nonetheless, an brief investigation into their social behavior and moral character is conducted before students are admitted to institutions of higher learning. In a number of fields, specific physical requirements must be met.

  Living Accommodation 
  
  Chinese university students are provided with on-campus dormitories free of charge, where they live and study during the week, China provides free education at the university level, and those students whose families have financial difficulties receive subsidies. The dormitory, which forms an important part of university life, is run by the students themselves through the students' union under the China Students' Federation, to which all enrolled students belong. In recent years, the number of pay students increases because of the education reform. 
  
  Educational programs carried out since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949 have paved the way for universal education in China. The focus of China's educational policy is to improve the country's intellectual outlook and bring about competent students in all aspects of China's development.