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Legislation and Equality in Basic Education for All in ChinaWing-Wah LawThe University of Hong Kong, Faculty of EducationSu-Yan PanThe Hong Kong Institute of Education, Faculty of Arts and SciencesArticleDOI:
10.-009-9099-yCite this article as: Law, W. & Pan, S. Interchange (7. doi:10.-009-9099-y
In China, legislation exists which requires compulsory schooling for all students of school age. This article examines the functions of and the constraints on using law to institutionalize equality in basic education. It argues that, in China, law is a last resort, holding governments of various levels accountable. Law can be a device of social justice to promote equity in education by serving as an important mechanism to check and balance the state’s power regarding its obligations toward instituting basic education, redistributing public resources, reducing disparities, and promoting equality in compulsory schooling. However, the use of legislation to promote equity in basic education is constrained by economic conditions and other extra-legal factors. This article concludes by offering an explanation of the functions of and constraints on law in the quest for equality in basic education, as well as the implications of China’s experience for understanding law and change.Educational equalityeducation for alllegislationlawstatesocial changeChinaAnleu S.L.R. (2000) Law and social change. London, UK, SAGEBallantine J.H. (2001) The sociology of education: A systematic analysis. Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River NJBilton T., Bonnett K., Jones P., Tony L., Skinner D., Stanworth M. et al (2002) Introductory sociology (4th ed). Basingstoke, Palgrave MacmillanChen, J. & Chen, Y. (2008). Woguo Chengxiang Jiaoshi Liudong Shiheng De Zhidu Fenxi (Analysis on the imbalance in teachers flowing between rural and urban areas in China). Jiaoyu Fazhan Yanjiu (Research in Educational Development), 3-4, 40-43.Chen, X.M. (2009, 24 January). Guangzhou Liudong Renkou Zinu Shangxue Jinnian Youwang Bu Jiao Jiedu Fei (Migrant Children in Guangzhou hopefully need not pay school-place rental fees from this year). Yangcheng Wanbao (Yangcheng Evening News), p. 1.Chu H., & Yang H. (2008) Jiaoyu Gongping de Yuanze Jiqi Zhengce Hanyi (The essence of educational equity and its policy significance). Jiaoyu Yanjiu (Educational Research) 336(1): 10–16Coleman, J. (1966). Equality of educational opportunity study. Washington, D C: US Department of. Health, Education & Welfare.Coleman J. (1975) What is meant by an equal educational opportunity?. Oxford Review of Education 1(1): 27–29Coleman J. (1990) Equality and achievement in education. Westview Press, Boulder, COCommunist Party of China Central Committee (1985). Reform of China’s educational structure. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press.Communist Party of China Central Committee (2006). Guanyu Goujian Shehui Zhuyi Hexie Shehui Ruogan Zhongda Wenti Jueding (A decision concerning several important questions about the construction of socialist harmonious society). Beijing: People’s Press.Communist Party of China Central Committee and State Council (1993). Zhongguo Jiaoyu Gaige He Fazhan Gangyao (The scheme for the reform and development of education in China).Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo Jiaoyufa, Yiwu Jiaoyufa, Jiaoshifa (The education law, basic education law and teachers law of the People’s Republic of China) (pp. 35-57). Beijing: China Law Publishing House.Dahrendorf R. (1975) The new liberty: Survival and justice in a changing world. London, UK, Routledge & Kegan PaulDalal, P. (2005). Law as an instrument of social change. Retrieved 5 November, 2007, from
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