Academic achievement comparison between private and public

European Journal of Education and Learning, Vol.3, 2007
ISSN(paper)2668-3318 ISSN(online)2668-361X
www.BellPress.org

Academic Achievement Comparison between Private and Public
Schools in Rural Gansu Province, China
Qiang Liu and James Tooley
School of Education, Communication, and Languge Sciences,
University of Newcastle upon Tyne,
NE1 7RU, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
Abstract: This paper aims at analysing the quality of teaching among different school management types. It
emerged from the initial survey that there were two types of private school - proprietor-managed and villager-
managed private schools. These two types were compared with public schools. The Ding Xi region, one of the
most underdeveloped regions of Gansu Province was chosen. The paper also looks at and compares different
factors influencing the performance of the students in the public and private schools in that area.
Key words: Gansu Province, Academic Achievement Comparison, Private and Public Schools

1. Introduction

1.1. Background

This paper looks at the private school sector in Gansu Province, China as part of an international research project
carried out at the University of Newcastle. It provided new evidence concerning the efficiency and effectiveness
of private schools. It also gives details about rural private schools in that area that had not been gathered before.
Private schools are becoming increasingly widespread and important in China, offering an alternative to the
public schools. This issue is seldom presented in detail, and this paper tries to fill this gap as it provides new
data and analysis about public versus private schooling in remote rural China.

Such research has been carried out in other developed and developing countries to examine the relative
effectiveness and efficiency of private schools, compared to public ones. Some of this demonstrates that private
schools provide a better education than public schools. For example, in the United States, Coleman, Hoffer, and
Kilgore (1982) show that ‘attending private schools increased the performance of students as measured by
standardized tests for verbal and mathematical skills’ (Coleman et al, 1982, p. 65-76). Lockheed & Jimenez
(1994, p. 9-10) quoted Hanushek (1990) as saying that ‘the average student does better in private than in pubic
schools in widespread’. However, some research claims the opposite after detailed studies. Take Lassibille &
Tan (2001)’s research in Tanzania for an example, after using longitudinal data from a 1994 retrospective survey
of students in some 150 schools to measure the school effects, it is found that both type of private schools
(Christian and Wazazi schools) are inferior to both types of public schools (government and community schools).

Dixon (2003) summarises the research that has been conducted in various developing countries. The studies
include those undertaken by Jimenez et al (1988) in Thailand, Jimenez and Cox (1989) in Colombia and
Tanzania, Alderman et al (1996) in Pakistan. The general conclusion of the research, after comparing private
with public sectors is that ‘private schools are not only more effectively, educationally, but when controlling for
socio-economic factors and the possible bias that parents choose private education for their more motivated and
able children, they are also more cost efficient’ (Dixon, 2003, p. 6).

Very little research however has been conducted in China to examine the nature, efficiency, and cost-
effectiveness of private schools and there are few official reports pertaining to the number of private schools. Lin
(1999) conducted a comprehensive study of development, context, characteristics, problems, issues, and future
prospects of private schools in China, stating that ‘there are no official reports on the number of the rural private
schools in the country’ (Lin, 1999, p. 76). Moreover, Chinese researchers have traditionally shown much less
interest in education in rural than in urban areas, as the former are deemed less important and less prestigious
than the latter. In addition, there is little attention that has been given to private schools in China although the
little research that has been carried out provides parallel findings to the research in other developed and
developing countries. There is some limited evidence to show that in China private schools are more cost-
effective and efficient than the state schools. For example, Liang (2001) mentions that ‘rural private schools
charge much lower fees (about 300 to 700 Yuan), and these are natural outgrowth of the desperate state of rural
public education: low quality and high charges’ (Liang, 2001, p. 22). Lin (1999) finds that ‘the tuition fees
charged by rural private schools tend to be low and affordable for most peasant families’ (Lin, 1999, p. 79) and

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‘the rural private schools open doors to the people who need the education most’ (Lin, 1999, p. 85). And Xu
(2002) states that ‘the teaching quality in the private schools is much better than a great proportion of public
schools’ (Xu, 2002, p. 39).

1.2. Brief Intorduciton of Ding Xi Muncipality

This research was conducted about the Ding Xi region, located in the middle part of Gansu province, China. The
whole region comprises of 1 area and 6 counties. The total area is 20,300 km2. Ding Xi region is one of the
national poor regions.

In 2001, there was a total population of 2.9 million in Ding Xi region. Farmer’s average net income per person
was 1,180 Yuan.

In the area, the schooling–age enrolment rate is officially reported to be 98.52%. As mentioned previously, the
data could be unreliable because ‘errors in the data have been found, showing some data are not reliable’ (Chow,
2005, p. 2). The total number of elementary and middle schools in the entire area is 2,927 (2,754 elementary
schools, 136 independent junior middle schools, and 37 complete middle schools), and the total number of
registered students in these schools is 487,452.

1.3. Research Question
Experimental research study from September – December, 2004 shows that in Gansu province, China; private
schools exist. During that research, 696 private schools were found, out of which over 85% are located in the
remote and impoverished villages. This particular research research tried to examine student achievements to
measure teaching quality in both types of schools – private and public. There are two research questions that
were tried to be investigated.

How do private schools in rural Gansu (if they exist) compare with public schools?
What factors influence student academic achievements in rural Gansu Province?

2. Methodology

2.1. Methods and instruments
The paper uses mixed methods. The data information in the second research was collected from school managers
& teachers, students, and parents respectively using different tests, questionnaires and surveys. In order to
examine teaching quality, a structured and stratified sample of students took tests in Chinese and mathematics.
An IQ test was also taken by all of the students as IQ could influence achievement and this would have to be
controlled for. The teachers also undertook the IQ test as the teacher’s IQ level could also influences student
achievement.

SPSS 12.0 statistic software was employed to analyse the data. The technique of crosstabulation was employed
to identify a ‘statistical’ relationship between categorical (nominal) variables, which take on one of a set of
discrete values, such as Gender = {Male, Female}. At the same time, in order to assess whether the means of two
groups statistically differ from each other, the Independent Sample T-Test and Nonparametric Analysis were also
utilised. The T-Test was carried out on the continuous variables, such as student age, family income, parent’s
education years etc.

2.2. Sample
Class/ level 3 was selected from all the schools. 212 schools with 2,544 students were selected for the sample
(82 villager-managed private schools with 984 students; 20 proprietor-managed private schools with 240
students; and 110 public schools with 1320 students).

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3. Findings

3.1. Comparisions of Public and Private Studnets’ Scores in Maths and Chinese
By comparing student’s raw mathematics and Chinese scores between public and private schools, it was found
out that in both subjects, the students in the public schools achieved higher scores than those in the private
schools. The data show that the mean student percentage scores in public schools is 65.78 (maths) and 57.25
(Chinese), while the means in the private schools is 61.85 and 54.83 respecitively. The independent T-Test result
tells that there is significant difference between them in both subjects (scores on maths: T=5.541, df=2446,
p<0.05; scores on Chinese: T=3.791, df=2446, p<0.05).

However, in order to examine the differences in Chinese and maths between different types of private schools
and public school, the dataset was split into three categories in terms of school types: villager-managed,
proprietor-managed, and public schools. This analysis indicated that students in the proprietor-managed private
schools achieved highest scores compared to those in the villager-managed and public schools. Moreover, the
students in the public schools attained higher scores than those in the villager-managed private schools. The
scores in the proprietor-managed private schools are 61.58 (maths) and 67.56 (Chinese), while those in the
villager-managed private schools are 53.23 (maths) and 60.48 (Chinese) and in public schools are 57.25 (maths)
and 65.78 (Chinese). There is significant difference among them (scores on maths: χ2 = 65.039, df=2, p<0.05;
scores on Chinese: χ2 = 64.549, df=2, p<0.05).

3.2. Other Studnets’ Variables
It could be argued that the higher test scores in those schools might be attributed to better student IQ than the
school management system. To control that studnets’ IQ test was taken, it tells that there is no positive
correlation between students’ IQ and their academic achievements as public school students showed better IQ
but not scores (on average: public school students’ IQ 29 with score 57.25 (maths) and 65.78 (Chinese); villager-
managed school students’ IQ 24.02 with score 53.23 and 60.48; properieter managed private school students’ IQ
28.12 with score 61.58 and 67.56 respectively).

Among the three different school types, students in the proprietor-managed private schools are, on average, older
than the other two school management types with the mean age of 10.93. Students in the public schools are the
youngest with a mean age of 10.64. There is significant difference among them in the aspect of student age (χ2 =
13.972, df=2, p<0.05).

The school distance from home to different school types might influence achievement. Parents were requested to
answer the estimated amount of time it would take for students to walk to the nearest government and private
schools respectively. The results indicated that that the students in the public schools would spend the least time
with the mean of 23.53 minutes, followed by the villager-managed private schools with the mean of 62.19
minutes and the proprietor- managed schools with 34.64

3.3. Economic Stsatus
It could be assumed, a priori, that families’ economic conditions potentially influence student academic
achievements positively. The research show that the economic situation of the family of the students in the
proprietor-managed private schools is typically poorer than that of the other two school management types. One
way of measuring wealth is by looking at the possessions of the household. Data were gathered on whether or
not the family owned a car, motorcycle, TV, telephone, fridge, tape recorder, etc. It was known that in all but one
possession, the ownership of a car / van, the proprietor-managed private school pupils came out to be the poorest
in the three school management types. That is to say, the students in the proprietor-managed private schools have
the least of the following items: motorcycles, colour television, telephone, fridge, tape recorder, gas cooking,
bicycle, and computers. Students in the villager-managed private schools have the most cattle (N.B. in the rural
areas of Gansu Province, families with cattle would be regarded as the low-income families). The difference in
ownership of these items was statistically significant between the three management types in all cases.
Therefore, it can be concluded that the family economic situations in the proprietor-managed private schools are
significantly worse than that in the villager-managed and public schools.

The family economic situation can also be measured using the indicator ‘parent’s occupation’, since their
occupation can influence the family economic situation. The data shows that 1.8% of students’ mother are self-

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employed, which is more than in the proprietor-managed (0.0%) and villager-managed-managed (0.1%) private
schools. The result is signficant (χ2 = 19.117, df=2, Significant, p<0.05). Furthermore, 92.89% of students’
mothers in the public schools are peasants, compared to 94.2% in the villager-managed and 96.9% in the
proprietor-managed private schools. There is significant difference among them (χ2 = 6.207, df=2, Significant,
p<0.05).

With reference to the father’s occupation, it is revealed that more students’ fathers in the public schools are in
manual wage employment (10.4%), self-employed (1.8%), wage employment (1.0%), or professional (2.7%)
than those in the villager-managed (5.9%, 0.3%, 0.0%, 0.9% respectively) and those in the proprietor-managed
private schools (9.6%, 0.0%, 0.4%, 2.2% respectively). There are statistically significant differences among
them. However, concerning father’s occupation as a peasant, more students’ fathers in the villager-managed
(92.6%) and proprietor-managed (84.2%) private schools are doing this kind of job than those in the public
schools (80.9%). The result is significant (χ2 = 63.316 Significant, p<0.05). To sum up, parents in the public
schools are undertaking better jobs than those in the proprietor-managed and villager-managed private schools.

Family income is a very powerful index in judging family wealth. Information was gathered concerning the
annual family income from the parents themselves. 2,448 parents provided this information. It can be seen from
the data that families in the proprietor-managed private schools have the lowest annual family income among the
school types. The mean value of household income per year in proprietor-managed schools is RMB 2556.78
(£180.69), which is statistically and significantly lower than that in villager-managed (RMB 2670.03 / £180.69)
and public (RMB 3337.65 / £235.88) schools. The difference is significant (χ2 = 12.781, df=2, p<0.05). It can be
judged that student’s economic situations in the proprietor-managed private schools is poorer than that in the
villager-managed and public schools

Figure 1: Family household income annually in school types
Total h ou seh old in com e p er year

4 00 0 0

2 00 0 0

0

villa g e rs p ro prie to rs p u b lic

m a n age m en t ty p e of sch oo ls

The parents were asked to comment upon whether or not the family receives any financial support from others.
This data were gathered because it was considered that this could help explain the student’s family economic
situations. 70% of parents in the proprietor-managed schools stated that they borrowed money from outside
compared to only 65% in the villager-managed and 57% in the public schools. The difference is significant (χ2 =
24.192, df=2, Significant, p<0.05)

The number of rooms in the family home can also be a good indicator of wealth. The greater the number of
rooms the more wealthy the family. It can be seen from the results that the mean number of rooms of students in
the proprietor-managed private schools is 4.12, which is less than that in the villager-managed (4.41) and public
(4.68) schools. The difference is significant (χ2 = 23.669, df=2, p<0.05).

Besides examining family possessions, the student’s home and how it was constructed were also investigated.

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Students were asked about the type of floor, wall, and roof of their home. The choices for the type of floor were
mud or cement, wood or other, the type of wall was mud, cement, wood, stone, iron sheet, or other, and the type
of roof was grass, iron sheet, or china. It is one way to examine the family economic social status. If the family’s
home has a cement wall, it could be judged the family is wealthier, since cement is more expensive than mud in
the rural areas. However, it was found that it was too complicated and not easy to make judgement during the
data analysis, so only floor with mud, wall with mud, and roof with mud were chosen for analysis. The results
indicate that compared with villager-managed private schools and public schools, more students in the
proprietor-managed private schools live in a house with a mud wall and mud floor and the result is significant
(the type of floor in the building is mud: χ2 = 50.007, df=2, p<0.05; the type of wall in building is mud: χ2 =
27.474, df=2,, p<0.05).

In conclusion, after analysis of family possessions, parental occupation, family income, number of rooms and
type of building at home, and whether the family get any financial support from outside; it can be summarised
that the household economic situations in the proprietor-managed private schools is significantly poorer than that
in the villager-managed and public schools. Therefore, it appears that students attending proprietor-managed
private schools in the rural areas are from the poorest families.

3.4. Educaitonal background/ environment
In order to consider whether the parents’ education influences student achievement and to test whether this can
be one reason why one school type outperforms another. Data were collected on the educational attainment of
the pupils’ parents. It can be shown that in both the number of father’s education years and the number of
mother’s education years, the parents in the proprietor-managed private schools are the lowest among the school
types. Concerning the number of children’s father’s education years, the mean in the proprietor-managed private
schools is 5.04 years, compared to 5.33 in the villager-managed and 6.35 in the public schools. The result is
significant (χ2 = 70.781, df=2, p<0.05). Regarding the number of years of the children’s mother’s education, the
mean in the proprietor-managed private schools is 2.30 years, while that in the villager-managed private and
public schools are 2.61 and 3.72 years respectively (χ2 = 85.072, df=2, p<0.05).

A priori it could be stated that the greater the number of books at home, the more of a positive effect on
outcomes; assuming that family has more interest in academic and literature. It is found out that the mean
number of books at home in proprietor-managed private schools is 37.35, which is more than that in the villager-
managed private schools (34.80) and less than that in the public schools (43.20). There is significant difference
among them (χ2 = 49.442, df=2, p<0.05)

Whether parents help their students or not with homework potentially might influence student learning. The
findings demonstrate that more than half of the parents in the proprietor-managed private schools report that they
help their children with their homework, compared to 39.3% in the villager-managed private and 48.1% in the
public schools and there is significant difference among them (χ2 = 19.120, df=2, Significant, p<0.05).

Another aspect that could influence a child’s ability is the ability of an elder member of the household to read or
write fluently in Chinese. The data shows that only 68.9% of elder members in the proprietor-managed private
school’s families can read or write in Chinese fluently, compared to 76.5% in the villager-managed private and
85.2% in the public schools and there is significant difference among them (χ2 = 46.489, df=2, p<0.05).

In summary, among the three school types, the students’ parents in the proprietor-managed private schools have
the lowest education level, the family has the least number of books at home and the children have fewer
siblings, and a lower percentage of elder members can read or write fluently in Chinese. Therefore, the student’s
family education environment in the proprietor-managed private schools is worse than that in the villager-
managed private schools.

3.5. Educational and Occuptational Expectations
A priori the parent’s expectations for their children could have an effect on the child’s achievement. That is the
higher the expectations, the higher the achievement owing to positive influences from the parent. Therefore
parents were asked to provide the answer to the following question: what were their highest aspirations for their
child in Class 3? The findings revealed that 14.0% of parents of children in the proprietor-managed private
schools wanted them to take a diploma, compared to 12.6% in the villager-managed and 9.5% in the public
schools. The result is significant (χ2 = 7.327, df=2, Significant, p<0.05). On the other hand, there are no parents
whose children are in the proprietor-managed schools that want their children only to be able to read and write.

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This is not the case in the other school management types where 2.7% of parents in the villager-managed and 1%
of parents in the public schools have as their highest aspiration that their child should be able to master reading
and writing. The difference is significant (χ2 = 13.840, df=2, Significant, p<0.05). There is no statistical
difference among the three school types in other options of parent’s educational expectations: the highest
aspiration by the parents for their class 3 child is to compete up to primary education level (χ2 = 2.354, df=2, Not
Significant, p>0.05); the highest aspiration is to complete up to vocational training level (χ2 = 4.367, df=2, Not
Significant, p>0.05); the highest aspiration is to complete up to secodnary level (χ2 = 4.543, df=2, Not
Significant, p>0.05); the highest aspiration is to compete up to take a degree (χ2 = 4.570, df=2, Not Significant,
p>0.05); and the highest aspiration is to become a professional engineer or doctor (χ2 = 3.521, df=2, Not
Significant, p>0.05).

The child’s own expectations regarding education and occupation may also influence, positively or negatively,
their academic achievement. In this research, pupils were invited to give the answer about their expectation of
occupation and education. Concerning the expectation of occupation, the data indicates that compared to the
other two types of schools, the pupils in the proprietor-managed private schools have the highest occupational
expectations. The lowest percentage of pupils in the proprietor-managed private schools have not thought about
their future occupation, or their occupation expectation is to be housewife or self-employed, while the highest
percentage of pupil’s in the same type of schools want to be a manager or administrator, or to be a professional,
or working in the government. For instance, only 8.3% of pupils in the proprietor-managed private schools
reports that they have not thought about their occupation yet, compared to 23.7% in the villager-managed private
schools and 20.2% in the public schools (χ2 = 28.084, df=2, p<0.05). Only 0.4% of children in the proprietor-
managed private schools chose that they want to be a housewife, compared to 3.9% in the villager-managed and
2.2% in the government schools (χ2 = 11.192, df=2, p<0.05). By contrast, 15.4% of pupils in the proprietor-
managed private schools want to be a manager or administrator, compared to 8.8% in the villager-managed and
10.3% in the government schools (χ2 = 9.111, df=2, significant, p<0.05). Furthermore, 15.0% of children in the
proprietor-managed private schools mention that they want to work in the government, compared to 9.6% in the
villager-managed and 10.9% in the government schools (χ2 = 6.012, df=2, significant, p<0.05). Higher
occupational expectation of children in the proprietor-managed private schools is shown by the fact that nearly
half (47.9%) of pupils report that they want to be a professional, such as an lecturer, or doctors, compared to
39.3% in the villager-managed and 45.4% in the public schools (χ2 = 8.877, df=2, significant, p<0.05).

Pupil’s expectations regarding education were also surveyed. Pupils were asked about their expectations
regarding their own education. The findings tell that more students in the proprietor-managed private schools
want to pursue undergraduate or master education level, compared to the other two types of schools. For
example, 17.5% of pupils in the proprietor-managed private schools want to undertake further study at
undergraduate level, compared to 14.0% in the villager-managed and 11.5% in the public schools (χ2 = 7.405,
df=2, significant, p<0.05). The other example is 7.9% of students in the proprietor-managed private schools want
to receive Master education, compared to only 4.4% in the villager-managed and 4.5% in the public schools (χ2
= 6.694, df=2, significant, p<0.05).

By comparing the pupil’s education and occupation expectations among different school types, it is revealed that
the students in the proprietor-managed private schools have the highest occupation expectations.

3.6. Home – number of siblings
Another background variable was also collected: the number of siblings at home. The data shows that proprietor-
managed private schools have the least number of siblings, compared to other two school types. The mean
number of siblings in the proprietor-managed private schools is 1.20, compared to 1.41 in the villager-managed
and 1.32 in the public schools. The result is significant (χ2 = 15.590, df=2, p<0.05).

3.7. School Variables
It would be expected that the child’s school will negatively or positively influence their achievement. Data were
gathered about the activities in schools as well as how the school functioned. The findings illustrate differences
existing in the school types.

The total number of hours the student spends in school differ depending upon the school management type.
Students in the proprietor-managed schools spend most time at school in a week. The mean amount of time is
42.23 hours, compared to 39.79 hours in the villager-managed and 39.89 hours in the public schools. The

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difference is significant among the three school types (χ2 = 47.225, df=2, Significant, p<0.05

Some schools have classes where children of different ages sit together to learn from one teacher. This might be
the case where there is a shortage of teachers or even a shortage of students. The data gathered regarding multi-
grade teaching and whether this is carried out on a regular basis or not concludes that more proprietor-managed
private schools use the form of multi-grade teaching on a regular basis, compared to the other two school types.

Nearly half (49.2%) of proprietor-managed schools adopt multi-grade class teaching methods, while this is only
the case in about one quarter of villager-managed schools - 24.4% of them and a very small proportion of public
ones - 8.9%. The difference is significant (χ2 = 250.094, df=2, p<0.05). In addition, 60% of the proprietor-
managed private schools adopt multi-grade teaching regularly, compared with only 24.4% in the villager-
managed and 10.9% in the public schools. The result is significant as well (χ2 = 310.454, df=2, p<0.05).

The stability of the schools may impact on student attainment. Therefore data were collected concerning the
number of times the headteacher had changed in the last 10 years and when the school itself had been
established. It can be seen that the proprietor-managed private schools change headteachers the least number of
times (with the mean of 2.09) than in the villager-managed (with the mean of 2.97) and public (with the mean of
2.91) schools. The result is significant ((χ2 = 37.675, df=2, p<0.05).

Whether the school has vital equipment may be important concerning the children’s achievement. Therefore it
was noted whether the school had chalks, dusters and desks for the children to sit at. The teachers were asked to
provide the answer for this question rather than the headteachers. As far as dusters, chalk, and desk provision is
concerned the proprietor-managed schools all had dusters and chalk and in 95% of them the children had desks.
The public schools all had chalks, with only a handful not having dusters. Also 94.5% had desks provided for
students. The villager managed schools also had high provision with 95% having dusters, 97.6% having chalks
and 91.5% having desks. The difference is statistically significant (Dusters: χ2 = 44.964, df=2, significant,
p<0.05; Chalk: χ2 = 38.411, df=2, significant, p<0.05; Desk: χ2 = 9.788, df=2, significant, p<0.05).

Finally, the number of times a headteacher observes their teacher’s lessons could also influence student academic
achievement – monitoring by headteachers has been found to be significant in other studies. This information
was answered by the current teachers in the school. The data shows that compared to the other two school types,
the headteachers in the proprietor-managed private schools observe their teacher’s teaching most frequently. For
instance, only 0.4% of headteachers in the proprietor-managed schools never observe their teachers lessons,
compared to 4.9% in the villager-managed and 8.6% in the public schools. The result is significant (χ2 = 27.175,
df=2, Significant, p<0.05). Furthermore, 20.6% of the headteachers in the proprietor-managed schools observe
teacher’s lesson on a daily basis. In the villager-managed private schools the figure is 6.4% and pubic schools
6.7%. There is significant difference among three school types (χ2 = 56.804, df=2, Significant, p<0.05). In
addition, 21.5% of headteachers in the proprietor-managed private schools observes teacher’s teaching activity
two times a week, compared to 11.1% in the villager-managed and 9.6% in the public schools. (χ2 = 27.235,
df=2, Significant, p<0.05). On the contrary, 32% of headteachers in the proprietor-managed private schools
observe their teacher’s teaching once a week, while nearly half of headteachers in the villager-managed and
37.1% in the public schools do so. There is significant difference among them (χ2 = 10.801, df=2, Significant,
p<0.05). A very small proportion of headteachers in the proprietor-managed private schools (9.6%) observes
teaching activities once in two weeks, compared to 19.2% in the villager-managed and 16.7% in the public
schools. The result is significant (χ2 = 12.656, df=2, Significant, p<0.05).

3.8. Teacher Variables
It could be hypothesized that one of the greatest influence on student attainment is the actual teacher one has in
the classroom. First what is set out here is whether there are any differences between the type of teacher that
teaches in the three management types. Data were collected from the teacher of Class 3 in all of the schools.

The data shows the results of teacher’s age and IQ. It can be seen that compared to villager-managed and public
schools, teachers in the proprietor-managed private schools are the oldest with the most teaching experience, but
the teacher’s IQ in the proprietor-managed private schools is the lowest.

Pertaining to the teacher’s age, the teachers in the proprietor-managed private schools (with the mean age of
38.24 years) are older than that in the villager-managed (with mean age of 36.54 years) and public schools (with
the mean of 34.09). The result is significant (χ2 = 57.289, df=2, significant, p<0.05). Concerning the teachers’

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IQ, the mean teacher’s IQ in the proprietor-managed private schools is 54.21, while that in the villager-managed
private schools and public schools are 47.61 and 49.61 respectively (χ2 = 42.746, df=2, significant, p<0.05).
There is a significant difference among them. The teacher’s working experience is similar to the teacher’s age.
The teacher in the proprietor-managed private schools (with the mean of 15.52 years) has more teaching
experience than that in the villager-managed (with the mean of 14.68 years) and public schools (with the mean of
12.11 years) and the result is significant (χ2 = 54.647, df=2, significant, p<0.05).

The frequency of teachers using textbooks in the class potentially influence student learning. The teachers were
asked the question: “do you use textbooks every time in the class or not?” The teachers were also asked whether
they use textbooks during every lesson. It can be seen from the data set that the majority of teachers in the
proprietor-managed private schools use textbooks every lesson. 90.4% of teachers in the proprietor-managed
schools use textbooks every time in class, compared to 76.9% in the villager-managed and 88.2% in the public
schools. There is a statistically significant difference between the management types (χ2 = 61.283, df=2,
Significant, p<0.05).

3.9. Summary of Findings
The findings so far revealed that in both subjects, the students in the proprietor-managed private schools
performs significantly better than those in the villager-managed and public schools. Furthermore, it is found that
although the pupils in the public schools are younger and have higher cognitive abilities (measured by higher
IQ), they did not get the highest academic achievement among three school types. Moreover, differences among
three school management types were analyzed from four perspectives: pupil, parents, school, and teacher
respectively, with data gleaned from questionnaires filled in by pupils, their parents, the school manager and
class teacher, and by tests for the children and their teachers.

It is illustrated from the research findings that compared to the other two school types, the student’s household
wealth in the proprietor-managed private schools is significantly poorer than that in the villager-managed and
public schools, while the student’s family education environment in the proprietor-managed private schools is
worse than that in the villager-managed private schools. Students in the proprietor-managed private schools have
the higher occupation expectation than those in the villager-managed and public schools.

Regarding the different school management types, it is found that pupils spend more time in class in the
proprietor-managed private schools and more proprietor-managed private schools adopt multi-grade teaching on
a regular basis than another two school types. What’s more, in the proprietor-managed private schools, the
headteacher post is more stable and teacher’s lessons are observed more frequently by the head than in the other
two school types.

Finally, as far as the teacher is concerned, compared with villager-managed and public schools, the teachers in
the proprietor-managed private schools are the oldest with the most years of teaching experience and the lowest
IQ. It is presented that more teachers in the proprietor-managed private schools use textbooks every time in
class than those in the villager-managed and public schools.

4. Discussion
The official view is that “rural education serves as the foundation, the driving force and important factor that
influence the overall building of a well-off society in an all-round way” (People’s Daily, 2003). In a bid to reduce
the gap between rural and urban education in China and improve education quality in rural schools, the new
China Compulsory Education law requires teachers in the urban schools to work in rural ones for a certain time
to make up for the inadequate rural educational resources. However, can rural education quality be improved by
doing so? Our research findings suggest that the above method may not work in the rural areas – it might not
improve education quality, but might make rural education worse. Our findings go against those, for instance,
from the USA, which find that ‘quantitative analyses indicate that measures of teacher preparation and
certification are by far the strongest correlates of student achievement in reading and mathematics, both before
and after controlling student poverty and language status’ (Darling-Hammond, 2001). One of the significant
findings of this research was that in the villages, the teachers with high education qualifications do not make a
positive impact on student learning, while those teachers with junior or senior education qualifications, born in
the rural areas can positively and significantly effect student academic achievement.

The research also suggests if the government is concerned about the education quality in rural areas, one
important channel to do so may be that the school should provide regular teacher in-service training to teachers

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so that help improve and enhance student learning, which complies with Angrist & Lavy (2001)’s study finding
that ‘… in-service teacher training provided a cost-effective means of increasing student test scores’ (Angrist &
Lavy, 2001, p. 343). Moreover, the Chinese government recognise the importance of teacher training, especially
for those teachers in the remote areas, and launched a teaching resource network to offer a long-distance training
for teachers nationwide.

It is known that China is one of the developing nations with the world’s highest population with the majority of
its citizens residing in rural areas. Therefore, rural education gains attention from the Chinese government - ‘the
Chinese government regards promotion of education in poor areas as an approach to poverty reduction’ (Zhang,
2006, p. 265). Furthermore, Zhang (2006) suggests that the promotion of rural education can effectively reduce
educational disparity, regional disparity, gender disparity, and ethnic disparity; it can also increase economic
growth rates and farmers’ income; and contribute to the reemployment of redundant rural labourers. At the
current rate, ‘over 80% of primary school and 64% of junior high schools are located in the rural areas’ (Zhang,
2006, p. 262) to provide education for those children in the rural areas.

Zhang (2006) concludes that the Chinese government has dedicated itself to promoting the expansion of
compulsory education nationwide and has sought to cater to the needs of disadvantaged population groups in the
rural contexts. The Chinese government has launched a special aid program to help the disadvantaged children.
These programmes include:

the National Compulsory Education Project for Poor Area (1995-2000 with 12.46 billion RMB
investment and 2001-2005 with 7.25 billion RMB investment),
the State-Subsidized Stipend for Students from the Poor Families (1997 with 130 million RMB
investment and 2001-2005 with 100 million investment per year);
the Special Aid for Free Textbooks (2001-2003 with 700 million RMB investment); the Allowances for
Teachers’ Salaries (since 2001 with 5 billion total investment per year);
the Reconstruction of Dilapidated Building (2001-2003 with 3 billion total investment and 2003-2005
with 6 billion total investment);
the Distance Education Program for Rural Schools (2003-2007 with 9 billion total investment).

In addition, ‘reform in China has led to unprecedented economic expansion since 1978. The costal area has
experienced higher growth rates than the hinterland, which has enlarged income disparity between the two
regions’ (Chen & Yi, 1999, p. 1). If uncorrected, the uneven growth not only threatens the ultimate success of
China’s economic reform, but will also bring about serious social and political problems. The Chinese
government thinks that it is a positive relationship between education and growth and regard education,
especially basic education, as a way to stimulate economic growth of the hinterland so that it allocated 10 billion
RMB (£0.7 billion) to improve basic education in the western area of China, including Gansu Province.
Furthermore, another 10 billion RMB (£0.7 billion) will be invested to establish 7, 730 boarding schools for 2.03
million students in 955 counties in the western and poverty-stricken areas, including Gansu. The motivation of
building boarding schools might be that the government is aware of that existing public schools are too remote to
serve some of the poorest communities and so move children to the larger villagers with public boarding schools,
which is one way to improve accessibility for the most disadvantaged. However, such a policy will clearly have
other implications for rural and family life – particularly if young people contribute to the economy in terms of
helping around the home and farm after school. For example, it is very good idea to send children to receive
education in school, but it will bring troubles to those families relying on children to help doing housework, such
as farming, raising cattle, and other domestic works, so that the family economic situations in those families
might be becoming poorer than before. Thus it will enter a non-virtuous circle or a spiral of decline. The family
becomes poorer, so then they will need more labours to help them to make more money, and then parents will be
reluctant to send their children to go to school.

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Policy: children from the remote areas go to public boarding schools

Family will lose main labour for domestic and farming works

The family will become poorer

The family will have to ask their children not to continue to go to
school and help family with farming work

How could we solve this problem? The problem could be solved by those private schools located in the remote
rural areas. As mentioned earlier, compared with the public schools, the private schools are located in the more
remote rural areas and the majorities of these private schools are not paid attention to by the government, simply
because they are not in the official list. Therefore, private schools currently existing to serve the most remote
villagers should be recognised. Furthermore, development funding could be channelled to help these schools
improve, through grants or loans, to facilities access to the poorest children through targeted scholarship, and / or
to assist other villagers to open school in areas not served by public schools. It was found that a limited amount
of local government subsidy was already directed towards private school, which is suggested that this assistance
might be extended. In this way, the poorest might be assisted without having to engage in a mass movement of
children away from their home villages, with its possible disadvantages, as outlined above.

Apart from the nationally funded projects, the Ministry of Education (MOE) has also organized regional projects
that mobilize resources from developed Provinces to help poor Provinces, and similarly, from urban cities to help
rural townships in the form of staff training, human resources, and material support using a contract-based
operational mechanism. The Non-government organizations (NGOs) also carry out projects to improve basic
education in rural areas. These NGOs include the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation; China Charity
Funds; All-China Women’s Federation; China Youth Foundation, Guangcai Charity Foundation, Communist
Youth League.

The international community also provides support to help promote basic education, including UNESCO, the
World Bank, UNICEF, UNDP, the Asian Development Bank, DfID, and many other international donors. It is
notable that European Union has provided large financial aid over a five-year period (totalling Euro 15 million or
about 10 million pounds) to improve education in Gansu Province, similar to the British DfID (totalling £12.5
million) over a six-year period. All these financial aid effort aimed at developing public schools exclusively.
With the intention of reducing education inequality (EU-China Gansu Basic Education Project, no date, p. 4), the
EU project consists of teacher training, facilities improvement, and provision of scholarship to ‘disadvantaged
but excellent student’ (EU-China Gansu Basic Education Project, no date, p. 2). Similarly, the DfID project also
aims to ‘reduce the inequalities which exist in the education system’ (Gansu Basic Education Project, no date, p.
1) through the introduction of school development plans (SDPs), teacher training, and scholarships for the
‘poorest and most disadvantaged pupils, especially girls’ (Gansu Basic Education Project, no date, p. 5).

However, it was notable in our research that we came across public schools under these programmes that were
situated in the less remote and larger villages. It was discovered from the research that in those remote and poor
areas, the number of public schools is scare, concentrating only at the centre of the areas and children in other
areas, if they wish to attend have to walk some two or three hours to go to the nearest public schools. Therefore,
the establishment of private schools in those regions caters for the educational needs of the local residents and
creates more educational opportunities for children, especially those from very poor families, which comply with
the demands of the society development.

The initiatives set out above all concentrate on government schools. This research found that the private sector
are playing a role in providing education for the poorest in the rural areas therefore it should be suggested that in

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the future private schools might usefully be given support to further the government’s aims. These schools
should be allowed to play a more positive role in the economic development of the Province. In order to achieve
this the governmental organizations, business associations, domestic and international enterprises and individuals
could be encouraged to support the development of private education in rural Gansu Province. Private schools
situated in the most remote and inaccessible villages did not in general receive any assistance or support – and it
was suggested by our respondents that the public schools, including those receiving development aid, were too
inaccessible to pupils in these remote villages to be of any benefit to them. One implication of the research
findings is that, if reaching the poorest is a development goal for the Chinese government and the international
community, then using at least some funds to raise the quality of, and improve access to, private schools may be
more effective than targeting only public schools.

However, due to the national funding deficiency, the Chinese government reformed the rural compulsory
education administration and clarified the various levels of the government’s responsibility. The core of the
reform is that the county government1 is chiefly responsible for promoting and providing compulsory education,
since ‘farmers are able to provide the majority of the necessary funding for education in rural areas’ (Zhang,
2006, p. 264). Unfortunately, because of economic difficulties, those counties don’t provide or invest enough
funds in education in order to meet the basic learning needs of school-based children and can barely provide all
school-aged children with full access to education. Under such circumstances, in order to sort out the financial
constraints, two major strategies have been employed by the Chinese government. One is an initiative for
mobilizing community resources, and another is one incorporating international aid. Therefore, Zhang (2006)
mentions that ‘the provision of basic education for rural areas has been a joint effort of the society through the
mobilization of all social sectors’ (Zhang, 2006, p. 268).

It is very important to stress the existence of fee-charging private schools in the rural areas of Gansu Province,
which is long-term being ignored, neglected, or unnoticed by the local government. It was reported by the school
principal that the most important motivation of establishing the private schools was to overcome problems of
children travelling great distance to public schools, thereby eliminating worries of parents and it was found from
the research findings that the reasons of parents sending their children to the private school is because the private
school is near to their home, compared to the public one. Therefore, the emergence of private schools in the rural
areas is to make up for the insufficiency of public schools and satisfy the educational need of the local
communities. Moreover, concerning the fees charged by the schools, it was found that there is no statistical
difference between public and private schools in charging fees from students. Even more, in Long Nan and Ling
Xia region, the school fees charged in the private schools is significant lower than that in the public schools,
which breaks many people’s assumption that the private schools charge higher fees than public ones. In addition
to the school distance and fees, another reason of parents sending their children to the private school might be
because their students can have better and higher achievement than attending the public school. Therefore, the
existence of the private schools in the rural areas of Gansu Province is to satisfy the educational needs of the
local community and provide better teaching quality for students with a fraction of costs.

In China, the issue of profitability of private schools is always highly debated in academic and official levels.
According to the 1995 Education Law of the People’s Republic of China (Ministry of Education), Article 25
states that ‘any organization or individual may not establish schools or other educational institutions for the
purpose of making profit’. Furthermore, article 37 of the Regulation on Schools Run by Social Forces states that
‘accumulation and savings from private school operations can be used only in increasing educational investment
and improving the conditions of a school. They cannot be distributed or invested outside the school’.

It is indicated obviously from the above regulations that investors or entrepreneurs shall regard their investment
in private schools only as a kind of voluntary and non-for-profit contribution to the public good, instead of
expecting any return. One of the reasons why the government does not allow private schools to make profit is
that the government fears that ‘some individuals or organisations might use the name of running a school to reap
huge personal gains or to shield their business profits from taxation’ (Lin, 1999, p. 160). Some experts agree
with it, stating that education is a ‘public welfare’ undertaking and not a business, while others insist that the
commercial operation of schools is beneficial to the increasing demand for socio-economic development. Even
more, some people hold the belief that without being profitable, private schools cannot survive and expand. Tian

1There are five levels of local government in the People’s Republic of China: province, prefecture,
county, township, and village. Among them, the prefectures are under provinces and the villages are
under the townships.

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(1995) demonstrates that

‘It is true for any business that without profit there cannot be development and expansion.
Big profits allow for big development, small profits allow for small development, and no
profit for no development and bankruptcy ensues. Profit is the driving force of the market
economy and private schools are the outcome of the development of a market economy in
our country. Lacking any investment from the government, we are just fooling ourselves to
reject profit.’ (Tian, 1995, p. 22).

In this research, in the economically underdeveloped rural areas of Gansu Province, it is found that after
controlling student background, the predicted student academic performance in both subjects of maths and
Chinese in the proprietor- and villager-managed private schools are significantly better than that in the public
schools and the private schools charge similar tuition fees to the public ones. It can be summarised that
compared to the public counterparts, the private ones are more cost-effectiveness. One possible explanation of
academic superiority of proprietor-managed private schools is that because of profit. The private schools are
surviving by receiving fees from students. In order to compete with government schools, they have to be more
incentive to improve teaching quality in the local region than public schools without charging more. The
government should consider this profound significance and allow private schools to make reasonable profit.

5. Conclusion
Comparison of students’ maths and Chinese attainment scores of Grade 3 students among proprietor-managed
private, villagers-managed private and public schools were made. Initially, comparing the raw scores of student’s
maths and Chinese between private and public schools, it is indicated that the private school is worse than public
schools in both subjects of maths and Chinese. The mean of student’s maths and Chinese in the private school is
61.85 and 54.83 respectively, while that in the public school is 65.78 and 57.25 respectively. The differences are
statistically significant. Then, in order to further explore the detailed differences in student raw achievements
between different management types of private schools and public schools, the database was split into three
categories: proprietor-managed private school, villager-managed private school and public school. After
comparing the student’s maths and Chinese raw scores again, it was discovered that the students in the
proprietor-managed private schools perform significantly better among the three school types with the mean of
maths and Chinese being 61.58 and 67.56 respectively, followed by public schools (57.25 in maths and 65.78 in
Chinese) and villager-managed private schools (53.23 in maths and 60.48 in Chinese). The villager-managed
private schools came out worst among three school types. Even after controlling for student innate ability, such
as IQ, and social-economic background, it is found that the students in the proprietor-managed private schools
still achieve best among the three school types. More importantly, the villager-managed private school’s position
improved relative to government schools in student scores of both subjects. The students’ predicted scores of
both maths and Chinese in proprietor-managed private schools are 60.85% (maths) and 84.98% (Chinese), while
that in villager-managed private schools is 56.14% (maths) and 76.21% (Chinese) and that in public schools is
55.96% are (maths) and 67.16% (Chinese).

Moreover, the research evidence shows that the family economic situation of students attending private schools
is generally poorer than those in the public schools. Generally it was found that the facilities and state of the
school buildings of the private schools were lower than the government alternative, with a couple of exceptions
concerning inputs.

It was also realised that the private schools exist in the villages of the Gansu Province serving the educational
needs of low-income families. The Chinese government is devoted to providing free education for every child by
the year 2008 with special attention to children in rural areas. One implication arising from this research is that,
if the Chinese government can recognise the role and the existence of private schools, this target may be
achieved much more easily and in a much shorter time.

6. Implications
What are the implications of these findings? The private schools in the rural areas seem to be serving what the
parents want. The research has revealed that after controlling for student and family background, both types of
private schools (proprietor-managed and villager-managed) are leading to higher standards in both subjects of
Chinese and mathematics with similar charges. Therefore private schools that are operating in the rural areas
should be brought to the attention of the national and international communities. Moreover, it would seem that

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the existence of this sector has implications for development policy, both for the Chinese government and for
international development agencies.

The findings of this research might have huge implications for the government’s objections to the profit motive
in education. Bringing profit to education might be a good thing. There is a growing recognition that private
schools are operating in a competitive environment and more efficient than public ones. For example, within the
public schools, under the present education system, there is little incentive or encouragement for them to deliver
services more cheaply or effectively, while within the private ones, because of incentive of profit (such as
making more surplus), they are always anxious to ensure to keep costs as low as possible and keep standard high

Another implication is that Provision of professional in-service training to rural teachers could improve student
learning performance, and should be seen as a possible policy intervention to help raise standards in rural private
schools.

It also implies that Local and rural teachers with education level from primary to senior high school can advance
rural academic achievement, and it may not be necessary for the Chinese government to send in teachers from
outside to help promote educational quality improvements. Also, in order to let children from the poorest receive
education, investment in ways to improve the quality of private schools might be a very effective way.

7. Suggestions of expansion of private schools for the poor in rural Gansu Province
The recognition and active development of private schools in rural areas need to be stressed. The development of
rural private schools can reduce poverty in the economically underdeveloped regions as well as promote
economic growth. Furthermore, China learned a great deal about the worldwide “Education for All” movement
from the World Conference on Education for All in Jomtien in 1990 and the International Forum on Education
for All (EFA) in Dakar in 2000. With the best development of private schools, this target may be achieved more
easily and more quickly. Therefore, the recognition and active development of private schools in rural areas need
to be stressed.

How can those rural private schools for the poor be developed and expanded, and how can the government and
social entrepreneurs be involved in this process? As far as the local government is concerned they could give the
private schools support and administration advice. Furthermore, the sound, complete, and smooth mechanism of
teachers transferring from public to private schools or from private to public schools should be set up, which
safeguards the private schools can attract suitable teachers from time to time. In addition, local, national and
international entrepreneurs could assist and invest in private schools in order to improve them through updating
and perfecting teaching facilities and school buildings. On the other hand, they could design or introduce new
and innovative curriculum and teaching methods for those schools to further enhance their teaching quality.

Moreover, in the rural areas of China, in order to change the situations of funding deficiency, various forms of
running the schools should be advocated and supported, making full use of outside capital, such as ‘shareholders’
private schools, schools set up by the enterprise(s), and schools run by foreign capital.

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Dixon, Pauline (2003) Regulation of Private Schooling for Low-Income Families in India: An Austria Economic
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Darling-Hammond, Linda (2001) Teacher Quality and Student Achievement: A Review of State Policy Evidence,
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Comparisons in Jerusalem Public Schools, Journal of Labour Economics, Vol. 19 (2), pp. 343-369.
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in Rural China, Review of Education (2006), No. 52, pp. 261-286.
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