ABSTRACT
To improve the quality of education, an article in People’s Daily has called for legislation concerning the qualifications, obligations and social status of teachers. Although 31 percent of all college graduates are involved in education, only 13 percent of all people involved in education are college graduates. A factor contributing to the lack of primary education is the new agricultural system, which encourages absenteeism from school. Children’s labor is needed at home for farmwork, and would-be teachers often would rather farm. Also, some brigades lack funds to finance schools. There have been demands for reforms in the system of higher education. Student dissatisfaction with the way universities are managed sometimes erupts in demonstrations. Such was the case at Nanjing University in June 1984, when demonstrators demanded the sacking of the Party secretary. Postgraduate education, which largely ceased during the Cultural Revolution, has been making some progress.
