• China has added 1.48 million full-time instructors to the country’s compulsory education system.
• The obligatory education retention rate increased from 91.8 percent in 2012 to 95.4 percent in 2013.
• China has 158 million pupils in 207,000 schools for the nine-year obligatory education.

BEIJING – Over the last ten years, China has added 1.48 million full-time instructors to the country’s compulsory education system, increasing the overall number of such teachers to 10.57 million, according to Ministry of Education statistics released Tuesday.

For the nine-year obligatory education, China today has 158 million pupils in 207,000 schools.

The obligatory education retention rate increased from 91.8 percent in 2012 to 95.4 percent in 2013. China’s obligatory education programme lasts nine years and includes six years of elementary school and three years of junior high school, all of which are free of charge.

China’s compulsory education has achieved a balanced development at the county level based on full coverage between 2012 and 2021, according to Lyu Yugang, a ministry official, who spoke at a news conference.

All students who left out due to financial concerns were identified and helped to return to school as soon as possible, according to Lyu.

In addition, the country has concentrated on ensuring that children with impairments have equal access to education.

In 2021, there were around 920,000 students enrolled in special education institutions across the country, up 142.8 percent from ten years prior.

Every year, 37 million children benefited from a nutrition enhancement programme for rural students, which helped the number of relevant pupils passing physical health assessments grow from 70.3 percent in 2012 to 86.7 percent last year.

Over the last decade, all levels of government have committed more than 1 trillion yuan (more than 149 billion USD) to reduce the gap between urban and rural school environments and ensure that all compulsory education institutions have access to the internet.