RAISING STANDARDS: A teacher at work at the No.5 Middle School, Yuanzhou District, in Guyuan City, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region

On December 21, 2008, the State Council executive meeting approved a policy to adopt a performance-based pay system for teachers working in compulsory education. The policy is scheduled to be implemented on January 1, 2009. It ensures that the average pay for these teachers will be no lower than that of civil servants. In the meantime, retired teachers from schools of compulsory education will be given a living stipend.

The performance-based pay, or merit pay, system will encourage talented teachers to commit to an education career. Attracting top talent to be teachers is the wish of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, who hopes to train a large number of dedicated educators, and to raise teachers' social status.

Progress report

In mid-December 2008, the Ministry of Education issued a report on teachers in compulsory education. The report shows that significant progress has been made in building the capacity of teachers.

According to the report, there are enough teachers to meet the basic needs of the nine-year compulsory education system. The student-to-teacher ratio has been dropping. Even the number of teachers in remote rural areas has increased. The average age of teachers is also lower than before.

Compared with the past, teachers in compulsory education are better educated, better at teaching and meet higher professional ethical standards. Parents and students in general are satisfied with teachers.

The salary of teachers in compulsory education has been raised gradually. Now they enjoy better fringe benefits, better working conditions and more training opportunities.

Nevertheless, the report points out, although the basic salary of primary or junior middle school teachers in compulsory education has increased rapidly, it remains relatively low.

Data in the China Labor Statistical Yearbook show that from 2002 to 2006, the national average salary of teachers and staff in regular primary schools increased by 58.2 percent, while the average salary of teachers and staff in regular middle schools was up 63.2 percent.

The report reveals that government stipends provided to teachers in compulsory education have not been distributed properly. It shows that nearly half of the teachers in schools at the village, town or county level did not receive stipends on time or in full amounts.

In 2006, the national average annual salary for teachers and staff was 17,729 yuan ($2,596) for regular primary schools and 20,979 yuan ($3,072) for regular middle schools, which was 5,198 yuan ($754) and 1,948 yuan ($283) lower than the annual average pay of civil servants, according to the report.

The report also indicates that teachers' pay is particularly low in some regions, especially in Henan, Shaanxi and Shandong provinces. In 2006, the annual average salary for teachers and staff was below 12,000 yuan ($1,757) in primary schools in 273 counties (8.5 percent of the total number of counties) and in middle schools in 210 counties (6.5 percent of the total number of counties). That is to say, their average monthly salary was below 1,000 yuan ($146).