China Has 45,000 Non-Government Run Schools

The number of non-government run schools in China reached 45,000 in 1999, accounting for 5.2 percent of all the country's schools, an official with the Ministry of Education disclosed recently.

"China Youth Daily" said that non-government schools now have 5.73 million students, or 2.35 percent of country's students.

China also now has 1,240 non-government universities, with 1.18 million students. Most of the non-government high schools and universities are located in the country's economically advanced areas including Beijing, Shanghai, and Zhejiang and Liaoning provinces, while the non-government schools at the nine-year compulsory education level are concentrated in the country's more economically retarded areas such as Hebei, Anhui and Henan provinces.

Problems still exist in non-government schools, says the official, adding that few of these schools have full-time teachers, many lack proper funding, and they still require new laws and regulations, according to the paper.

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