Dropout problem no longer an issue for schools

In 2018, more than 60,000 primary and middle school students in Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture, Sichuan province, dropped out of school. Today, the number is zero.

After conducting four rounds of research by visiting students' homes, the local government has set up records on all dropouts. The records detail each student's reason for dropping out, their age, health, mental and family conditions, according to the prefecture's education and sports bureau.

Based on the conditions, local officials have taken measures to ensure that all students receive nine years of compulsory education. Some who recently dropped out of school have rejoined their old class, while others have been grouped into separate classes, while the local government has sent teachers to the homes of disabled students.

In the remote mountainous region, many young people dropped out of school because they got married or started working at an early age.

Since 2019, local authorities have set up checkpoints on highways to stop dropouts from leaving, and more than 5,300 students who left to find work in cities have been persuaded to return to school.

So far, local law enforcement authorities have filed 32 cases against parents who sent their underage children to work, and 70 people have been punished for organizing minors to work.

The local government has made great efforts to improve the quality of school facilities and teachers.

Moreover, through different types of financial aid, including scholarships and subsidies for students and grants to cover their living expenses, local authorities have ensured that no student drops out of school due to poverty. All primary and middle students in China are exempt from tuition and other miscellaneous fees.

Liangshan serves as an example of the great efforts made by different levels of government to ensure that no child is left behind.

Speaking at a recent news conference, Huai Jinpeng, minister of education, said the long-standing problem of students dropping out of primary and middle schools has been resolved, adding that the dropout rate for such students is zero. Meanwhile, potential dropouts will be persuaded to stay at school.

As a result of the developments in the past decade, education coverage at various stages has either reached or surpassed the average level of that in middle and high-income countries across the world, Huai said.

China's coverage of preschool and the nine-year compulsory education is on a par with those in high-income countries, he said. He added that in the past decade the gross enrollment rate for preschool education has risen by 23.6 percentage points to 88.1 percent.