P(論文)

In early 1993 the Chinese Government and the Communist Party released an Outline of Higher Education Development and Reform, laying out a basic design for educational reforms toward the end of this century. There is no doubt that this document will assume historical significance. Limiting the focus on higher education, the present paper examines its backgrounds, contents and consequences. The first section examines the social and economic background of the Outline. Three groups of critical factors are identified: (i) the structure of economic growth, where the income in the non-government sector increased more rapidly than governmental revenues; (ii) the shift in economic structure that requires corresponding changes in industry-university relations; and (iii) the internal inefficiency of the traditional higher education system. In the second section, the design of higher education reform described in the Outline is summarized into three major points: (i) introduction of non-governmental funding to universities, including increases in tuition and fees, (ii) introduction of graduate labor market, and (iii) relaxation of government control and increased autonomy of individual institutions. The third section examines the actual developments since the release of the Outline. It is observed that the acute financial difficulties in universities may render unrevocable damages. Also there are serious concerns about equity in the opportunities of higher education. These would create short- and long-run problems in realizing the design of reform.