1 In a move aimed at shifting the focus of China's schools back to basic education, the government has ordered that all special schools catering to gifted students be closed down.
2 The State Education Commission and the Chinese Society for Science and Technology issued an urgent circular this week banning such schools after receiving complaints that the elite schools imposed heavy financial burdens on the families of such children, official reports said Wednesday.
3 The move reflects a national crisis in China's educational system, which is struggling for survival following a withdrawal of most state funding.
4 Despite China's unparalleled affluence in recent years, the number of illiterates has soared -- now accounting for one in five people aged 15 or older, Vice Premier Li Ruihuan said in a recent policy speech.
5 So have drop out rates in the countryside, where many families are unable to afford fees charged for even the most basic schooling.
6 'China's basic education still falls short of the requirements for promoting material and spiritual civilization, and it continues to face many difficulties and problems that demand prompt solution,' Li said.
7 Along with other areas of the economy, the state has relaxed controls on education, allowing some 60,000 non-government run schools to spring up in recent years.
8 Such schools cater to the desire of Chinese parents to improve their childrens' chances of advancing to secondary school and university, at whatever the cost.
9 The elitist nature of such 'Olympic schools,' as they are called, apparently angered Li and other top leaders, who recently began calling for their closure.
10 Although basic education is theoretically supposed to be provided free to all children, many schools, especially the best equipped ones, have begun charging exorbitant fees, official reports say.
11 The ban on elite schools is to go into effect before the spring semester begins next Monday, the official newspaper China Daily reported Wednesday.
12 Schools that have already taken fees for the spring semester are required to return them. Those schools authorized by provincial, or state, education departments will be allowed only to finish the spring term, it said.
13 The circular advised schools to concentrate on improving the quality of 'normal teaching' and it banned competitions and awards geared toward gifted students. Violators will be punished, the report said, without providing further details.
14 The 'back to basics' approach is apparently aimed at ensuring that a maximum number of students, whatever their ability, receive a basic education.
15 China spent 2.66 percent of its gross national product, or dlrs 12.92 per capita, on education in 1993, well below the 4.1 percent of GNP average of other developing nations.
16 Local authorities, who are expected to shoulder most of the burden, have generally failed to provide the basic minimum expected by the central government, leaving schools with little choice but to run their own profit-making businesses or charge exorbitant fees.
17 Those trends worry the national leadership, which fears that a poorly educated workforce could become a drag on economic development.
18 Central government funding for education is slated to increase to 4 percent of GNP by 2000, by which time China aims to implement a policy of universal nine-year compulsory education.

Despite China ' s unparalleled affluence in recent years , the number of illiterates has soared - - now accounting for one in five people aged 15 or older , Vice Premier Li Ruihuan said in a recent policy speech .
unparalleled affluence
To what does China owe its unparalleled affluence of recent years?