The enrollment expansion had covered approximately 10 million students from 2000 to 2005. Before 2010, another 4.38 million students will benefit from such expansion, though the speed of expansion will become much slower.

 

The information was released by Yuan Guiren, Vice Minister of Education of China, at a press briefing on June 4.

 

According to Yuan, the gross enrollment rate of senior high schools in China will reach 80% in 2010, when the gross college enrollment rate will be 25%.

 

In 2000, there were only 5.56 million college students in China; however, in 2005, the figure was 15.62 million.

 

The Ministry of Education of China has compiled the education development plan for the 11th Five-Year Plan Period (2006 - 2010), saying that it will work on to control the expansion of the scale of higher education (especially the number of colleges) in China, but to improve its quality, as the rash advance in the development of higher education in the past few years make its negative influence felt in China.

 

(Chinanews.cn June 5, 2007)