China’s education policy-making: a policy network perspective

Abstract

Policy network approach has become a broadly accepted and frequently adopted practice in modern state governance, especially in the public sector. The study utilises a broadly defined policy network conceptual frame and categories of reference to trace the evolution of education policy-making in China. The study uses The Outline of China’s National Plan for Medium and Long-term Education Reform and Development (2010–2020) as an illustrative case study. This study argues that China’s education policy-making has changed, and the three most prominent changes are the transition from a Party-dominant practice to one primarily driven by the central government, the enhanced role of higher education institutions and scholars as ‘professional interest group’ in the Chinese context and the increasing participation of non-governmental actors in the policy-making process. Essentially exploratory in nature, this study hopes to contribute to the understanding of China’s education policy-making and broader education governance while contributing to the mapping of an important sector of the global education network.

Keywords:

• Policy network
• network governance
• education policy-making
• China

Notes

1. Marshall (1995) analyses Australian higher education policy-making from 1985 to 1994. He explores how the way in which government and interest groups interact changes as a result of changing policy environments, which further influences policy outcomes.

2. Fataar (2006) uses policy network as a lens to investigate how politics and policy interests influence the school curriculum policy in South Africa from 1994 to mid-2000. His findings suggest that policy outcomes are determined by different compositions of policy networks and policy processes. Also, the way policy network functions can only be understood in relation to its context where it is formed and the policy-making takes place.

3. (Political) documents play a significant role in China’s policy process. They are the CCP and the central government’s most direct and authoritative way to express official directives.

4. Chen-Ning Franklin Yang (YANG Zhenning) and Tsung-Dao Lee (LI Zhengdao) are both Nobel prize recipients in physics.

5. The Project 985, started in 1998, is a national effort to build world-class universities in China in order to promote the development of Chinese higher education.

6. In ‘Article 54 The proportion of the state educational investment by way of financial allocation to the volume of general national products shall gradually increase along with the growth of national economy and financial income. The executive steps for the proportion increase shall be determined by the State Council. The proportion of educational appropriations to the total volume of financial expenditures at different levels of the whole state shall increase step by step with the growth of the national economy’. And in ‘Article 55 Educational appropriations of the people’s governments at different levels shall be listed as a separate item of the financial budget according to the principle of consistency of business power and financial power. The increase of financial allocation to education by the people’s government at different levels shall be higher than the growth of frequent income of the finance. The people’s government shall make the average per capita education appropriation for all students in the school increase progressively and ensure that the teacher’s salary and the per capita public fund for students grow gradually’.

7. Geographically speaking, China can be roughly divided as ‘western regions’, ‘ central regions’ and ‘eastern regions’, with provinces in the west being the least developed and those in the east the most developed. Therefore, provinces in east regions are able to provide relatively abundant financial resources to their higher education; and higher education in western provinces tends to receive more financial support and policy preference from the central government.