China · Higher Education Reform

The purpose of this report is to review China ' s higher education reform efforts over the last 10 years in relation to goals delineated in the 1985 document, " Decision on Education Reform, " with the objective of providing advice for the continuation of reforms over the next 25 years. It recommends that the following principles be observed and reinforced in China ' s initiative to reach competitive international standards in economic and social terms by the 21st century: (a) that the role of the state be clearly that of policy setting, monitoring and regulating; (b) that the state provide an enabling environment in which institutions can have more financial and managerial autonomy; and (c) that the state provide leadership for increasing institutional capability to handle such autonomy by creating a national body to provide advice to individual universities and provinces or municipalities. This report also examines and makes recommendations for improvement on the following issues: (1) the relationship between universities and the state; (2) the impact of changes on university management; (3) the diversification of resources for financing higher education; and (4) quality improvement in instructional programs. This report concludes that the Chinese government has taken a pragmatic, gradualist approach to implementing changes, proposing a gradual devolution of the state ' s overall management function from the center to provincial and municipal authorities.