Education costs for children now account for almost a third of a
Chinese's family total income, according to a survey released
Monday.
The survey was conducted by Horizon Research, a famous
consultancy group, across eight major Chinese cities including
Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.
Results show that between October 2004 and October 2005, a
family with one or more children attending full-time education
spent an average of 3,522 yuan (US$442) on their children's
education, accounting for a third of their total annual income.
Furthermore, although the sum spent on children's education
among rural families is only about half of that spent among urban
families, it represents a greater proportion of the household'
total earnings. In addition, education costs for a single child in
rural areas has increased by over 20 percent annually over the last
two years.
The survey also shows that around 85 percent of Chinese
residents chose to send their children to public schools instead of
private schools, the two main reasons given for such a choice being
the presence of "standard education methods" and "low tuition
fees."
However, how to further improve the education quality while
reducing the education costs is still a big problem that the public
concerns most.
(China.org.cn by Xu Lin, August 23, 2006)