China Ministry of Education has recently issued its annual Statistical Report on National Educational Development for 2014. Compared with initial data published earlier this year in the Statistical Communiqué on National Economic and Social Development, the statistical report provides a more detailed picture of education development in China.

Key figures include:
• 138 Mn students in compulsory education, including 94.5 Mn primary students and 43.8 Mn in lower secondary schools. The number of new primary school students was down 2.2% while new lower secondary students fell by 3.2%.
• 41.7 Mn students in upper secondary education, including 24.0 Mn in academic senior high schools and 17.6 Mn in vocational high schools. New upper secondary students fell by 5.4%, but the proportion of lower secondary graduates enrolling in upper secondary education increased slightly from 95.9% to 96.3%. The proportion of new upper secondary students entering vocational schools fell to 43.8%, compared to 45.1% in 2013 and 47.2% in 2012.
• 25.5 Mn students in regular higher education institutions (universities and higher vocational institutions), and 35.6 Mn students in all forms of HE including distance learning and adult HEIs. The number of new undergraduates in regular HEIs rose 3.1% to 7.21 Mn, while the number of new postgraduates rose 1.6% to 621,000
• A net decrease of 12,200 primary schools, 5.7% of the total, as well as 181 lower secondary schools and 548 upper secondary schools. However, there was a net increase of 38 regular HEIs, including 32 universities and 6 higher vocational institutions.
• Increases of 3.2%, 3.5% and 3.6% in new students at private primary, lower secondary and academic senior high schools respectively, in contrast to the overall decline in new students. The 1.7% decline in new vocational high school students at private schools was also smaller than the fall in these students at all schools, while the 8.0% increase in new private HE students was significantly higher than the growth in total HE admissions.

Analysis by Kevin Prest, Senior Analyst and Liu Xiaoxiao, Education Services Manager:

Enrolment figures for China’s primary and secondary schools continue to fall, as a result of the country’s declining youth population. Even increasing progression to the upper secondary level and a greater proportion of students choosing academic rather than vocational high school is not enough to reverse the decline in academic high school students. Although progression to higher education is still increasing, growth in new HE students has fallen significantly over the last decade, and China’s university population is likely to peak in the not too distant future.

At the same time, the figures show strong growth in China’s private education sector, which enrols around 7 per cent of primary students and 10 per cent of secondary students. One of the key priorities set out for the education sector at the Twelfth National People’s Congress in March is to “promote the healthy development of privately run educational institutions”, so this growth is likely to continue over the next few years.

Sources:
1. http://www.moe.edu.cn/jyb_xwfb/gzdt_gzdt/s5987/201507/t20150730_196698.html
2. http://www.stats.gov.cn/english/PressRelease/201502/t20150228_687439.html