Efforts on Compulsory Education for Girls in China
2 min readBrief Introduction
In China，women enjoy the same rights and opportunities as men to receive education.Such rights and opportunities are clearly defined in China’s Education Law，Compulsory Education Law and Vocational Education Law.The state takes concrete measures and actions to ensure that girls receive nine-year compulsory education and that women have more opportunities to receive secondary and higher education.The state is determined to eliminate iliteracy among young and middle-aged women，promote lifelong education for women and extend their average years of education.
Efforts on Compulsory Education for Girls
The Chinese government makes great efforts to eliminate gender disparities at the stage of compulsory education，and improve the education environment for girls.In 2004，the enrollment of boys and girls was 98.97 percent and 98.93 percent，respectively.The difference in access to educa-tion between boys and girls was reduced from 0.7 percentage point in 1995to 0.04 percentage point.The government has unceasingly increased its input into compulsory education in the countryside，so as to improve thecompulsory education environment there and ensure that all girls，likeboys，have the chance to receive compulsory education.In 2004，the educational appropriation from the state treasury for compulsory education in rural areas reached 139.362 billion yuan，two times the amount in 1995.Inrecent years，the state has raised money from many channels for grants to students in primary and middle schools.Under one policy known as“Two Exemptions and One Allowance，”the government provides subsidies so that students from families with financial difficulties in rural areas，particularly in central and west China，are exempt from paying textbook fees and other fees，and students attending boarding schools get allowances.Governments at all levels have formulated special policies and taken measures concerning the education of girls in poor areas and areas inhabited by ethnic minorities，work hard to raise the level of compulsory education for girls in rural China.In addition，the state has adopted special policies to ensure that migrant children（including girls）from rural areas receive compulsory education.
For many years，governments at all levels have worked hard to help NGOs in organizing donation activities to pool money to improve the education of girls.The Hope Proiect and the Spring Buds Program initiated by the China Youth Development Foundation and the China Children’s Foundation have provided financial assistance to large numbers of girl dropouts to help them return to school.
