The similarities and difference of public schools and private schools between America and China and the educational reform of China

As we can see that each state in America are entitled to make educational policies independently to fit the educational situation there. So things could be in total difference from states to states. Likewise， things in China are moving toward what is occurring in America. The educational bureau of every province can make varied policies on the basis of the general rules made by the center educational bureau. The flexible policies ensure themselves fit the local educational atmosphere properly. And even the collage entrance examination， every province can make their own test papers， which promoted the equity of education at some extent. Because the educational resources are not distributed equally to each province， the more-developed regions have more strength on education than those less-developed regions. Thus， it’s better to test them accordingly.

It’s interesting to find that private schools are doing far better than public schools in America. “The most elite secondary schools in the United States， for instance， are private” (Sadovnik， Cookson， Semel， 2006， p.462). In America， those students who can afford the high tuition would probably attend private schools， which guarantee them the good quality of education and better facilities. While in China， things are different. In the well-developed regions， say， Beijing or Shanghai， private schools， international schools， and bilingual schools， is preferable to the upper-class students. But since not all the provinces has private school， the public schools enjoy good reputation， owing to the long history of the schools， great atmosphere inside the schools， resource and excellent teachers， some of them even well-known national wide.

Just like the public schools in America， which receive money from the taxpayers， the public schools in China also receive funds from the local government. But apart from that， schools can make extra money out of students. The children attend elementary schools and junior high schools in their neighborhoods. The quality of education of these schools varied. Naturally， there are parents wish to send their child to the best ones. By doing this， they have to pay extra. The more students the schools accept from the outside of the community， the more money will pour in. Accordingly， these schools could pay more to attract good teachers， update their computers， and build more buildings… Hence， the quality of these schools are improved， conversely， this will helps them to attract more students. And what happened to those schools which are losing their students source? They don’t have enough money， they can’t afford to equip themselves with advanced facilities， and the good teachers would quit and find some schools willing to pay more. Consequently， less and less students want to attend these schools， it’s a vicious circle for them. and for those good schools， things are not finished， they would receive special awards and funds from the government every year， cause they are already be seem as a flag.

Ten years ago， China carried out an educational reform throughout the country， which called “reduce the burden from the students” it aimed to give leisure time back to students， relief the competition. The classes on weekends were prohibited. And guess what， there did have no classes in the schools， the classes were taught in the house of the teachers! And the students were charged. It’s not hard to imagine the reform didn’t make any big difference in the end. However， China didn’t stop changing， There is reform comes out every year to make the educational environment better， and some of the top universities also join the movement， they make their test papers， and the marks are no longer the only judgment， the capacities in other areas are being taken seriously as well.

From what I mentioned， we can see how the schools run in China， and how the public and private schools differ from those in America， and we also can see China is making efforts to make the environment of education more desirable， more suitable for students to learn， but there is still a long way to go.

Reference list:

[1]Alan R. Sadovnik ， Peter W. Cookson，J.R. Susan F. Semel (2006) .The Philosophy of Education and Its Significance for Teachers: Exploring Education: an introduction to the foundations of education(3rd ed.). (pp.166-171). Boston: Pearson Education， Inc.