No alternative to better education quality

As for the appeal to extend the years of compulsory education, the Ministry of Education has responded that it would involve revising the Compulsory Education Law, which makes nine-year compulsory education mandatory. If high school education is included in the compulsory education program, all levels of governments have to ensure that all students receive it. That would be unrealistic as well as unfeasible, because experience shows that in many regions it is difficult to even achieve the goal of providing nine years of compulsory education to children.

But extending free education does not ensue the same problems. To begin with, the governments could increase their investments to extend the free-education program. Extending the years of free education would popularize high school education and develop inclusive free preschool education during the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-20).

The enrollment rate for preschool education remains very low in China, mainly because the government's investment in the sector is insufficient. As such, the government's investment in education should be increased.

Implementing free education is compatible to improving the quality of education. In fact, the government should take measures to improve the quality of education as well as make education fairer.

Shaanxi's 13-year free education program will depend on not only the provincial fiscal investment but also funds from the central government. Shaanxi's decision to extend the years of free education shows that it is feasible to provide 13 years free education in some other regions.

To ensure that people really enjoy the benefits of free education, the authorities should not compromise on the quality of education children get despite the waiver in tuition fees. Some free public schools have difficulty in attracting enough students because parents prefer to get their children admitted to "reputable" schools in the hope their children would get "higher quality education". This shows fee waiver is not the only factor that attracts students. Therefore, governments at all levels should make efforts to provide high-quality free basic education for the betterment of children, who are China's future.

The author is vice-president of the 21st Century Education Research Institute.