How to ensure "access to nearby schools" and "good education"? Will this year be the "most difficult year to enter"? Behind the degree warning for primary and secondary schools in some regions, Liu Jie | Situation | New additions | Teachers | Population | Enrollment | Resources | Degree
Guangming Daily reporter Zhou Shixiang
"Based on the preliminary investigation of eligible children in the jurisdiction, some schools are facing a high degree shortage due to the dense population distribution within the service area and the continuous growth of the population in newly built residential areas. In 2023, they will face situations beyond the existing degree acceptance capacity. In mid June, the Education Bureau of Anning District, Lanzhou, Gansu issued such a" degree warning ", stating that the enrollment scope of primary and secondary schools will be adjusted appropriately." Eligible children in the area will be strictly admitted in batch order, and students who cannot be admitted will be arranged by the District Education Bureau to enroll in other schools. ".
Entering the "enrollment registration season", the enrollment work of compulsory education schools is touching the hearts of millions of "parents of first-year students". As the seventh year of the implementation of the "comprehensive two child" policy approaches, the transmission effect brought by the "baby boom" is concentrated at the entrance of primary school this year. According to media reports, since the beginning of this year, many places in Beijing, Guangzhou, Jinan, Dalian, Changchun, Qingdao, and Chengdu have issued degree warnings for primary and secondary schools. Will this year be the "hardest year to enter school"? Behind the degree warning, how can various regions ensure "access to nearby schools" and "good education"? The reporter conducted an interview.
On August 30, 2022, freshmen from Nanchaihuo Street Primary School in Yuquan District, Hohhot City held new textbooks. Ding Genhou Photo/Bright Image
The large increase in the age appropriate population and regional imbalance have caused a "degree shortage"
For some primary and secondary school students in Beilun District, Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province, when attending physical education classes, they should "go upstairs" rather than "go downstairs" - their playground is built on the rooftop.
"Not only has a playground been built with fences on the roof, but runways have also been opened up around the teaching building and adjacent to the walls. Almost all available open spaces have been developed into sports fields." Liu Jie, the head of the Basic Education Department of the Education Bureau of the district, told reporters that in order to increase the per capita sports area, some schools have to "look for space everywhere".
Behind the emergency measures is the increasing enrollment and enrollment in the local area year by year. Liu Jie told reporters, "This year's increment is the largest, with at least 1000 new degrees added in the entire region. Based on the maximum class size not exceeding 45 people, more than 20 new classes need to be added."
The peak of degree demand increment is not only reflected in first and second tier cities in developed coastal areas. A material provided by the Education and Sports Bureau of Xihu District, Nanchang, Jiangxi Province to reporters shows that with the implementation of the comprehensive two child policy in 2016, the number of compulsory education students in the district has shown a significant growth trend in 2022. In 2023, the number of eligible children will reach a new high, as the number of students will come from the year with the highest birth rate in the district.
"The data shows that in September 2022, the enrollment of primary schools in Xihu District was 6652, and the enrollment of junior high schools was 2240, with a net increase of 972 students in total enrollment compared to 2021 and a net increase of 3120 students in school compared to 2021. Through bottom line analysis, the bottom line number in 2023 was 1282 more than the bottom line number in 2022." The relevant person in charge revealed, "According to the prediction, the number of primary school age appropriate children in the district will reach 7671 this year."
In addition to a large increase in enrollment of eligible students, the uneven regional distribution of required degrees is another characteristic of the data presentation. The reporter learned that the growth of school-age children and adolescents in Xihu District, Nanchang City in 2023 is limited by Hongcheng Road, with a slight increase in the total amount of the old urban area and Chaoyangzhou area, mainly concentrated in the Hongcheng area south of Hongcheng Road and the Chaoyang New City area. From this, it can be seen that for the new city area, the situation of degree shortage is more obvious.
"It is estimated that the school-age population of basic education in Ganzhou City will gradually decline after reaching its peak of 1.8 million in 2022, but the school-age population will quickly concentrate in cities," said Lai Wenwen, Deputy Mayor of Ganzhou City People's Government in Jiangxi Province. "County students account for 68.5%, exceeding 56.4% of the population's urbanization rate, and there is a shortage of about 200000 urban compulsory education degrees."
"The problem of 'degree shortage' in some regions may be related to the inaccurate predictions of local education authorities and other relevant departments on changes in population birth rate and demand for educational resources." Wang Jianmin, a professor and doctoral supervisor at Beijing Normal University, said that due to factors such as economic and social development, new situations and characteristics such as increased mobility of school-age children have emerged. Education authorities should make predictions and actively respond to changes in demand for teaching resources.
On February 16th, elementary school students underwent football training at the Third Primary School of Siliuzhong Road in Qingdao, Shandong Province. Photo by Zhang Ying/Bright Picture
Take multiple measures to tap into existing resources and promote growth, ensuring that all necessary inputs are fully utilized
"The situation was predicted a few years ago, and the peak of this round of new enrollment was reflected in the number of kindergartens three years ago, which will gradually spread to middle schools." Liu Jie said, "We will definitely give early warning in this situation, but we still need to ensure that all students who should enroll are admitted and enrolled nearby."
"According to calculations, Xihu District of Nanchang City can actually provide 177 teaching classes and 7965 degrees for primary schools in 2023, which can generally meet the increasing demand for enrollment of school-age children and adolescents in the entire district in 2023. We are trying our best to do a good job in enrollment during the peak enrollment period, ensuring that every school-age child and teenager in the region can enroll normally," said the relevant person in charge of Xihu District.
Faced with the demand for new degrees with a large total amount and uneven regional distribution, measures vary in different regions. A common measure is to adjust the division of school districts appropriately and make full use of newly added degree resources. The reporter learned that a newly built campus, located west of Ziyu Road and south of Shuichang Road in Nanchang City, will be put into use soon. The Ziyu Campus of Nanchang Zhanqian Road School Education Group will officially start classes and schools in September. The planned number of classes in this campus is 36, among which 24 classes are planned for primary schools, which can accommodate 1080 people; There are 12 classes planned for junior high school, which can accommodate 600 people. After investigation, the campus can expand and renovate 26 classrooms, with a maximum available capacity of 62 classes. It is estimated that 1890 new degrees can be added to primary schools and 1050 new degrees can be added to junior high schools.
"Through preliminary field research, the campus has formulated a corresponding school district division plan based on the degree requirements it can provide and the specific geographical location of the campus. According to the principle of dividing by the main road, the surrounding areas east of Taohua South Road, south of Shuichang Road, west of Zhenjun Road, and north of Jiuzhou Street have been designated as the school district scope of the school, which can alleviate the degree shortage problem at the Taohua Campus of the Education Group of the First Railway School." Yu Qianqian, Deputy Director of the Compulsory Education Division of the Education and Sports Bureau of Xihu District, introduced.
Liu Jie said that the new degree resources will be centrally allocated to the degree intensive areas by taking advantage of the opportunity of private schools to "convert people to public". "Private schools were originally aimed at recruiting students from the entire district, but now the policy has been adjusted to focus on block recruitment, supplementing some public schools with limited resources in the school district. These schools have good educational standards and the public are also willing to go."
In addition to making good use of newly added resources, fully tapping into existing resources is also a choice for many regions. Faced with the increasing demand for enrollment year by year, some schools in the Chaoyang New City area of Nanchang City have checked the existing teaching space and invited professionals to plan and calculate. The results show that the increase in enrollment demand can be met by renovating the existing classrooms.
"The Zhanqian Road School Education Group Overseas Chinese City Campus Renovation Project is expected to renovate 27 classrooms and 14 offices, with a potential increase of 725 new degrees. The entire campus classroom renovation project of Songbai School Education Group Chaoyang Campus is expected to renovate 29 classrooms, with a potential increase of 1240 new degrees. The relevant work will be implemented from July to August to ensure timely completion and smooth enrollment of the two schools in 2023," said the person in charge.
"Generally speaking, if local government departments do a good job in demand forecasting, they can solve the problem by increasing teaching classes without building new schools. For the significant increase in demand for educational resources, new schools can be considered to respond." Wang Jianmin analyzed.
Enhance policy foresight and respond reasonably to changes in demand for educational resources
Liu Jie stated that by recruiting more than 200 teachers from various subjects and providing timely pre employment training, there are still ways to improve the "software" aspect. "The short-term shortage of hardware supply is more realistic. The design scale of a school is fixed, and increasing the number of classes will make the per capita playground, toilet, cafeteria area, etc. more tense." Liu Jie said that currently, some schools can only improve the efficiency of use and alleviate the problem of insufficient per capita space through methods such as multiple rounds of dining.
"In recent years, Beilun District has made comprehensive plans for the construction of basic education resources and has laid out many schools. However, after all, a school has a long usage cycle from new construction to investment, which may not keep up with the speed of student growth, and the allocation is still slightly lagging." Liu Jie stated that if three larger schools can be put into use successively from 2024 to 2025, the per capita tension will be fully alleviated from next year to the year after. "A grade can add at least 1000 degrees."
"While ensuring classroom supply and enrollment demand, Xihu District will also do a good job in upgrading and renovating the hardware of each campus in the region, focusing on improving the educational conditions of each school and creating a high-quality campus." The person in charge stated that the district adopts a "one game" strategy throughout the district, ensuring the scientific flow of teachers within the region through a two-way communication mechanism within and outside the group, selecting new teachers reasonably through personnel agency, increasing teacher training efforts, and ensuring sufficient staffing of full-time teachers in newly added degree schools.
Wang Jianmin believes that in the short term, areas facing degree shortages may have an impact on teaching quality due to expanding class sizes, adding new classes, and introducing new teachers. Therefore, efforts from multiple parties should be mobilized to solve the problem in a timely manner, led by government departments, supported by social forces, and actively cooperated by parents. "Classrooms, multimedia, laboratories, and other resources will all have an impact, but the key is still the lack of high-quality teachers. Teachers' teaching level and classroom management experience are scarce resources and cannot be achieved overnight, requiring time accumulation and accumulation."
So, as the number of births decreases after the peak, will new educational and teaching resources become idle?
"From the enrollment data of kindergartens, we predict that there will definitely be a decline in the next few years, but it will not decrease to any extent." Liu Jie said that Beilun District in Ningbo is located along the coast, with manufacturing as the main industrial foundation, which has a strong attraction to the foreign population, and the base will not decrease significantly. "With the passage of the 'peak', there will be a lot of resources to be supplemented for middle and high schools. Now, the country is promoting the construction of high-quality and balanced areas for compulsory education, and the number of primary school classes can be appropriately reduced. In addition, teachers and staff also have natural retirement every year, which can basically maintain relative balance."
The reporter noticed that the "Opinions on Building a High Quality and Balanced Basic Public Education Service System" recently issued by the General Office of the Communist Party of China and the State Council proposed that each province should formulate standards for the allocation of urban compulsory education degrees, cities and counties should reasonably plan and ensure sufficient construction land, strictly implement the regulations for the construction of schools in new residential communities, and accelerate the expansion and expansion of urban schools.
"Firstly, we need to establish a risk warning mechanism for resource allocation, strengthen the information integration and monitoring of population and education data; secondly, we need to optimize the layout of educational resources based on changes in school age population, urban economic and social development, and coordinate to fill the gap in resource supply; thirdly, we need to optimize the allocation of teacher resources, comprehensively implement the 'district managed school recruitment' reform, and timely supplement scarce subject teachers through the combination of teacher staffing and government procurement services. We also need to strengthen the construction of higher education and consistent schools, vigorously cultivate teachers in higher education and those with downward compatibility, in order to enhance the ability of overall allocation." said Meng Hui, Deputy Mayor of Wuhan Municipal People's Government.
"In short, the large-scale migration or return of the population, as well as changes in the birth rate of newborns, should be an important basis for the education regulatory department to evaluate changes in the demand for educational resources. There should be judgments, contingency plans, and timely adjustments to avoid situations of 'degree shortage' or 'degree surplus' as much as possible." Wang Jianmin proposed.
Guangming Daily
