Quality Education and Social Stratification: The Paradox of Private Schooling in China

Abstract

Since the opening of the first elite private school in June 1992, private schools have mushroomed in China. [1] By November 1996, there were more than 60,000 private institutions, hosting 6.8 million students (China Education Daily, 11/1/1996). Though the percentage of private schools is still less than 4 percent of all schools in China, the current boom in private schools, especially the primary and the secondary level, evokes many debates and concerns over their legitimacy, policy, implementation, problems, and effects (Kwong, 1996). Are these private schools pioneers for quality education or are they a result of an increasingly stratified society? What roles do they play? What are their potential effects?This paper aims to explore what private schooling means in China today and includes discussions on context, definition, assumptions, and implications of China's educational market. It draws on library research as well as field research on private schools in China, in order to deepen the understanding of the restoration of private schooling. This analysis suggests that while the current revival of elite private schools might be a result of pursuit of social efficiency and reflects the intensification of social inequality, it also serves the interests of wealthy parents rather than the public. Though private schools pilot some education changes in curriculum, teaching, accountability, and school management, the sharp contrast between elite schools and their public counterparts indicates that elite private schools mainly serve the needs of economically privileged group. These private schools may widen the gaps that already exist among the different segments of population in China. This article questions the assumption that private schools only strive toward quality education for a public good and suggests that the emergence of private schools reflects on-going struggles between classes and groups in competition for values, resources, and power. Hence, the resurgence of private schools may have less an effect on quality and equity of education but more toward social stratification.This analysis combined the data from library research and fieldwork. From 1995-1997, I collected data regarding private schooling, under the guidance and support of Brian DeLany, by reading government documents, newspapers, popular and professional journals, as well as talked to teachers about perspectives regarding the policy, strategies, and public attitudes about running private schools. Since the schools visited are called elite private schools in Beijing and Guangdong province, we realized the limitation of the data due to regional discrepancies on educational resources, policy and philosophy.