Administrative System and Quality Strategy of Higher Education in China

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Administrative System and Quality Strategy of
Higher Education in China
Renmin University of China YUAN Wei 2007.6
Helsinki
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I. The General Situation of Higher Education in
China
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The scale of higher education in China has
achieved substantial development since the reform
and opening-up in 1978. It was the implementation
of The Action Plan of Invigorating Education in
the 21st Century in 1999 that enables the scale
of higher education in China to grow rapidly and
it has entered into a new developing stage. In
the past 30-odd years, the number of students in
higher education institutions (HEIs) has
expanded by about 10 times.
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By the end of 2006, the total number of HEIs had
reached 2,311 (with 444 adult institutions) while
that of the students at school had surpassed 23
million (including 17,388,000 regular
undergraduates, 5,249,000 ones at adult
institutions and 1,105,900 postgraduates.) The
overall scale of higher education in China,
exceeding that in the United States, has leaped
to the first in the world. With the gross
enrolment rate of 22, Chinas higher education
has stepped into the internationally recognized
Mass Education stage.
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The Development of Higher Education in China
(1999-2006)
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Undergraduate education in China involves Junior
College Diploma(2-4 years), undergraduates(4
years). Postgraduate education involves students
for Master Degree (2-3 years), students for Ph.D
(3-6 years). The total number of institutions
with postgraduates in the whole country was 767,
among which 450 were HEIs, and 317 research
institutions.
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Of all the HEIs, 39 are included in the "985
Project" 107 are key HEIs which have been listed
in the "211 Project".
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The "985 Project" refers to the plan of Chinas
building a number of key universities into
top-ranking universities and high-level
universities in the world. This was first put
forward by then Chinese Chairman Jiang Zemin in
May, 1998 hence the name.
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Among "985 Project", there are some comprehensive
universities such as Peking University and
Tsinghua University and there are some
universities with their own characteristics such
as Renmin University of China, University of
Science and Technology in China, and China
Agricultural University. The central government
and local governments have been giving
substantial support to those universities
included in the "985 Project".
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The "211 Project" refers to the plan of Chinas
constructing 100 high level universities in the
21st century. It goes side by side with the "985
Project", but has different emphasis.
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• II. Chinas Graduate Education

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• Since China resumed graduate education in
  1978 and introduced academic degree system in
  1981, its degree and graduate education has
  scored tangible achievements. As a result, China
  has become one of the major countries in terms of
  graduate education.

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• 1. Graduate training capacity has risen
  sharply. In 2006, in-school graduate students
  totaled 1.1 million, of whom 200,000 were
  studying for doctoral degrees and 900,000 for
  masters degrees.

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• 2. Graduates have become an important force in
  various field of Chinas modernization drive.
  Graduates have become the main force in creating
  small and medium-sized high-tech enterprises, and
  some of the senior management personnel have
  grown into entrepreneurs.

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• 3. Since China introduced professional degrees
  in 1991, a total of 570,000 talents with
  professional degrees of different levels and in
  different fields have been produced.

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• 4. The quality of the graduates produced by
  China has been internationally recognized and the
  countrys graduate training has had a growing
  influence in the world.

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• A comparison between Chinas top 28 universities
  and the 61 universities of the Association of
  American Universities (AAU)

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• As Chinas international status in higher
  education and graduate education rises and its
  influence expands, more and more countries,
  including Britain, France, Germany and Australia,
  have signed agreements with China on mutual
  recognition of academic credentials and degrees.

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III.The administration system of Chinas higher
education
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Since 1998, the administration system of Chinas
higher education has undergone significant
transformations. During the process, the
administration of several hundred universities
and colleges has been transferred from the
central government to the provincial governments.
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In the year 1996, 62 central ministries
established 366 regular higher education
institutions. In 2006, those managed by the
central ministries and commissions amounted to
111, of which 73 were under the supervision of
the Ministry of Education, and those at local
level to 1,756.
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According to operating system, HEIs can be
divided into three categories HEIs administrated
by central ministries, HEIs administrated by
provincial governments, HEIs administrated by
city governments, and non-state/private HEIs.
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IV. Quality Assurance Strategy of Chinas Higher
Education
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Education of talents is the fundamental task of
the higher institutions, which heavily depend on
the quality of its educated forces. Higher
education in China has been stabilized over the
fast-paced development since 1999 and the focus
has shifted to improving the quality of educated
talents.
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Currently, the Chinese universities are engaged
in the national drive in promotion of Teaching
Quality and Educational Reform. Various measures
have been undertaken including increasing
investment in teaching, strengthening teaching
management and deepening the educational reform.
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Strengthening teaching management The whole set
of teaching including classroom teaching, field
practices, examinations and teaching file should
be assessed with scientific methods to meet the
standard criterion.
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Deepening the reform in teaching and schooling
models Undergraduate education should produce
talents with range, firm foundation, proven
abilities and outstanding qualities. For example,
the freshmen in Fudan University spend the first
year in Fudan College, which provides them with
general education and prepare them for studies in
previously selected majors.
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Full time professors being required to teach the
undergraduate courses recognized professors are
especially encouraged in classroom teaching. The
Ministry of Education has established an Award
for Excellent Teachers.
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Construction and sharing of educational
resources attention should be hitched upon
producing the best instructional materials and
quality courses. Educational resources including
E-library and multi-media network teachings
should be improved and enlarged to serve a larger
pool of users.
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Improving teaching quality monitoring and
assurance system The Ministry of Education
established a National Teaching Appraisal Center
for Higher Education and its major
responsibilities are to monitor the national
teaching quality on a macro level.
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For the postgraduate education quality assurance,
every year in China, one hundred doctoral
dissertations are selected and awarded. More and
more universities have adopted an Anonymous
Review System on the doctoral theses to guarantee
their quality and objectivity.
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Ranking of Excellent Ph. D. Dissertation
Number (1999-2007)
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Up till now, 18 professional master degrees have
been established MBA, Master of Architecture,
J.M., Ed.M, ME, Master of Clinical Medicine, MPH,
Master of Stomatology, MPA, Master of
Agricultural Extension, Master of Veterinary
Medicine, Master of Military Science, MPAcc, MFA,
Master of Sports, Master of Horticulture, Master
of Translation and Interpreting(MTI), and Master
of Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other
Languages (MTCSOL).
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Establishing and perfecting degree and
postgraduate education evaluation system the
assessment of first-level disciplines and the
appraisal of key disciplines shall be carried
out. In China, there are in all 11 discipline
categories, 80 first-level and 368 second-level
disciplines. The following table is the degree
and discipline classification.
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Postgraduate Degree Classification
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The degree and postgraduate education evaluation
committee for higher education institutions and
scientific research institutes shall organize the
overall assessment of the first-level
disciplines. Between 2002 and 2004, all the 80
disciplines were assessed. During the past three
years, 229 units and 1,336 disciplines took the
discipline appraisal.
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Institution Ranking of Best 1st Level Discipline
Numbers(20022004)
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The Ministry of Education approved the first key
disciplines in 1987, and in 2001, resettled and
funded 964 ones in 400 universities holding the
objective of establishing high level or world
first-class disciplines.
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National Key Discipline Selection (2001)
Remark (1), (2), , (11) represent the degree
offering field Philosophy, Economics, Law,
Education, Literature, History, Science,
Engineering, Agriculture, Medical Science and
Management.
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• The Ministry of Education carried out another new
  round appraisal of national key disciplines in
  December last year which was divided into three
  phases, namely, self-evaluation, mutual
  evaluation and new-discipline assessment. So far
  the appraisal has entered into the second stage
  and the whole work will come to a completion in
  September this year.

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• Main References
• http//www.edu.cn
• ????????????????(2002-2010)(?????),??????????2
  002??6?

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The End. Thanks!
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