Oil Boom Refines a County's School System

China's education policy has long been in dire need of reforms, with both quality and affordability a massive challenge for local governments. In Shaanxi Province, Wuqi County's experiment has rekindled the possibility of free, universal education for children in China.

Wuqi County's education programs, implemented three year ago, have dramatically changed the county's entire education system. While China's Compulsory Education Law mandates that all children are entitled to nine years of schooling, from primary to middle school, this spring, education reforms in the county were broadened to include kindergartens and free vocational training. The Skills for All Program allows residents under the age of 45 to attend any technical school in the nation, for which the county government will cover all tuition fees and even foot the bill for transportation.

New Assignment

On top of the tuition fees paid for directly by the government, the county also pays for student housing, food and other expenses. Since 2007, the county's investment in education has totaled 850 million yuan.

Before the program began, high school students typically had to pay approximately 3,500 yuan per year. The government subsidies were greeted with widespread public enthusiasm. In addition to funding full tuition for twelve years, the government has also guaranteed funding for schools and teacher salaries.

In the latest programs, Wuqi County has invested an additional 520 million yuan in improving infrastructure, hardware and teacher training for all county schools. Around 140 million yuan has already gone to advanced classroom equipment and multimedia electronics as well as another 2.98 billion yuan for curriculum development.

Black Gold

Situated in petroleum-rich northern Shaanxi Province, Wuqi County has reaped the benefits of its natural endowments in recent years. A relatively small population and oil windfalls into local coffers has allowed the county government to expand several social programs. One example of a bricks-and-mortar benefit has been a 150 million yuan Wuqi First Middle School, set to open this year.

In 2009, Wuqi's GDP reached 8.1 billion yuan, with total fiscal revenue of 2.7 billion yuan and local income of 1.6 billion yuan. Per capita income was over 10,000 yuan, giving Wuqi County a fiscal cushion for education reforms.

But spearheading the entrepreneurial reforms in education came in large part from Feng Zhendong, the county party secretary. In 2007, Feng was transferred to Wuqi from his post at Baota District in Yan'an city. The reforms stemmed in part from Feng's prior experiences as an official in the county education system. Feng said, "Oil is limited. Education is the real foundation for sustainable economic growth."

As Wuqi's economic structure shifted to natural resources, urbanization increased and rural students migrated to the cities. Educational resources became strained and the subject of public debate. The growing gap between the rich and poor meant that many could not afford tuition fees. Lacking sufficient public participation in the political process, the distribution of public funds is often determined at the discretion of local government leaders. Under Feng's urging, the county's funds were allotted to the new education programs.

The Wuqi Model

In 2009, with total fiscal revenue of 1.6 billion yuan, Wuqi set 50 million yuan aside toward its education system. Even still, Wuqi's total social spending in 2009 was less than 10 percent of its total revenue and of that, 3.1 percent went toward education.

This stood out because educational investment immediately became comparable to some major cities outside of the province. With economic growth at the top of most local government agendas, there has been a tendency for local officials to favor investment in economic investment or large-scale infrastructure projects. But the effects of education on economic growth take time to measure, meaning few tangible achievements for officials in the near-term.

Residents and officials in Wuqi remain aware that the changes were largely only possible because of their financial situation. One resident said, "It's nice for now, sure. But the oil is going to run out. When that happens, can we keep providing free education?" Many Wuqi residents are rather skeptical of the future.

But Feng believes that if education can improve a society's character and intelligence, they can change their reliance on oil. He also believes that human capital drives power of the economy, rather than resources.

Can Wuqi's experience work in other places? Feng said that other locales should not be expected to replicate the Wuqi model. The sources of funding, the coverage of the education programs and the implementation must be determined by each area's economic situation. However, the issue of developing the education system is a top priority that all levels of government should be considering, Feng said.

Public vs. Private

While Wuqi implements their broad education policy reforms, they face another question: how to treat public and private education equally?

Like most of China, the degree of marketization in Wuqi's educational system is still relatively low compared to other countries. Not a cent of private funds enters the primary schools, middle and high schools in Wuqi. With free education, the government may put pressure on the viability of private schools. Government subsidies could expand the gap between public and private schools. But according to Feng, the use of executive power to concentrate on education may not be a long-term solution. If Wuqi's free education experiment is going to last, it definitely needs help from the private sector.