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China Key Schools
"Key schools," shut down during the Cultural Revolution,
reappeared in the late 1970s and, in the early 1980s, became an
integral part of the effort to revive the lapsed education system.
Because educational resources were scarce, selected ("key")
institutions--usually those with records of past educational
accomplishment--were given priority in the assignment of teachers,
equipment, and funds. They also were allowed to recruit the best
students for special training to compete for admission to top
schools at the next level. Key schools constituted only a small
percentage of all regular senior middle schools and funneled the
best students into the best secondary schools, largely on the basis
of entrance scores. In 1980 the greatest resources were allocated
to the key schools that would produce the greatest number of
college entrants.
In early 1987 efforts had begun to develop the key school from
a preparatory school into a vehicle for diffusing improved
curricula, materials, and teaching practices to local schools.
Moreover, the appropriateness of a key school's role in the
nine-year basic education plan was questioned by some officials
because key schools favored urban areas and the children of more
affluent and better educated parents. In 1985 entrance examinations
and the key-school system had already been abolished in Changchun,
Shenyang, Shenzhen, Xiamen, and other cities, and education
departments in Shanghai and Tianjin were moving to establish a
student recommendation system and eliminate key schools. In 1986
the Shanghai Educational Bureau abolished the key junior-middle-
school system to ensure "an overall level of education."
Data as of July 1987
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