TY  - JOUR
AB  - In the 1980s, the Chinese government undertook a major structural
reform in education by which upper secondary education was converted
from predominantly general education to an equal mix of general
education and vocational/technical education. A critical examination is
provided of the rationale for and implementation strategies of the
reform, framed in a broader context of the development of secondary
education in the past four decades. It points out that, although the
reform was justified in largely economic terms, there is actually little
empirical support for the economic assumptions; the development of
vocational/technical education is prompted more by a desire to reduce
the social demand for higher education and to use education as a social
stratification device. The reform reflects changing perspectives of the
Chinese leadership on the role of education in national development; and
it can be seen as the outcome of the most recent episode of continuing
social and political conflicts in the Chinese state that began in the
1950s.
VL  - 29
IS  - 4
SN  - 0957-8234
DO  - 10.1108/EUM0000000002475
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1108/EUM0000000002475
AU  - Tsang Mun C.
PY  - 1991
Y1  - 1991/01/01
TI  - The Structural Reform of Secondary Education in China
T2  - Journal of Educational Administration
PB  - MCB UP Ltd
Y2  - 2024/04/20
ER  -