Abstract
This chapter documents power relationships in public school admission by analyzing changes in stakeholder interactions with public schools . It also illustrates a framework of multilayered inequality /stratified engagement of stakeholders in Zexiao . The discourse analysis is based on data collected from written and spoken records about public school admission, including newspaper articles and policy documents from the 1980s to the 2000s.
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Notes
- 1.
Until the Institutional Reform of the State Council in 1998, the Ministry of Education was called the State Education Commission.
- 2.
Scores refers to the achievement in tests or exams related to education transition.
- 3.
School place refers to the student’s status or identification at school.
- 4.
According to the China Youth Daily (Xiao, 2009, December 15), the results of a survey conducted by the China Youth Daily among 30 cities showed that 75.8% of participants involved in this survey felt the school gap caused schools to charge high Zexiao fees and was considered as the more serious educational inequality phenomenon in China.
- 5.
- 6.
The principal of School F also pointed out that the mismatch between parents’ expectations and their children’s capacity in Zexiao was often misled by the public media. According to her, “Zexiao represents a concept of consumption. It is very normal. The point is not whether people choose or not. Rather it is which choice is more appropriate for students. I think the media sometimes misleads parents and the public. They mainly focus on the word Ze (choice). But, they neglect to discuss why and what they choose.… In my opinion, the media should discuss more on how to wisely and appropriately choose schools.” This interview was conducted on November 7, 2011.
- 7.
Interview with the principal of School G was conducted on October 27, 2011.
- 8.
The statement of School C was collected during the Symposium on Zexiao Fever, which was hosted by the 21st Century Education Research Institute on November 24, 2011.
- 9.
According to Lin (2006), most elite private schools have been met with discriminatory measures from the government, such as exclusion from consideration for model schools and refusal to recognize their teachers’ seniority when the teachers want to return to public schools. In contrast, the education authority maintains advantages of key schools by distributing highly qualified teachers and establishing much better facilities and equipment.
- 10.
The interview was conducted on October 30, 2011.
- 11.
According to Yang (2006, p. 106), the industrialization of education refers to the systematicalized activities that the education system and schools at all levels generated profits and enlarged educational resources through utilizing a market mechanism and approaches from the 1990s. It happened under the background of significant lack of educational financing. To some extent, these activities supplemented the limited educational fund and enlarged educational resources. Meanwhile, the charge of high tuition and unauthorized charge of fees occurred. These distorted the meaning of education and intensified corruption in the education sector. The quality and reputation of education were badly influenced.
- 12.
According to Jiancha Ribao, in 2008, one principal of a Beijing primary school committed corruption by acquiring 1.4 million RMB, which was charged from educational donations (Bai, 2011, June 22). In 2008, corruption committed by a principal from a popular Beijing school was reported by the media. The corruption included more than 100 million RMB. And most of it was charged as an educational donation from parents (Chen & Wang, 2008, August 17).
- 13.
The interview with the journalist from Sohu.com was conducted through email exchange between the journalist and the author.
- 14.
Dongping Yang’s Blog, “Down with the Evil of Olympic Math Education” uploaded on April 15, 2009. Retrieved from http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_492471c80100cn8h.html. Accessed on March 15, 2012
- 15.
The legalization of the charge of Zexiao can also be found through an interview with the principal of School F. According to her, the rate of return of Zexiao fees from the local education authority to schools was 85 percent in Dongcheng District (Interview was conducted on November 7, 2011).
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Liu, J. (2018). Public Discourses on Zexiao . In: Inequality in Public School Admission in Urban China. Education in the Asia-Pacific Region: Issues, Concerns and Prospects, vol 43. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-8718-9_3
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