Procedures of Shanghai Municipality on the Implementation of the Compulsory Education Law of China

• Document Number：Announcement No. 9 of the Standing Committee of Shanghai Municipal People’s Congress
• Area of Law： Education
• Level of Authority： Provincial Local Regulations
• Date issued：02-24-2009
• Effective Date：06-01-2009
• Status： Effective
• Issuing Authority： Shanghai Municipality People's Congress (incl. Standing Committee)

Announcement of the Standing Committee of Shanghai Municipal People's Congress(No. 9)

The Procedures of Shanghai Municipality on the Implementation of the Compulsory Education Law of China were revised and adopted at the 9th Session of the Standing Committee of the 13th Shanghai Municipal People's Congress on February 24, 2009, and are hereby promulgated. They shall become effective as of June 1, 2009.
Standing Committee of Shanghai Municipal People's Congress
February 24, 2009
Procedures of Shanghai Municipality on the Implementation of the Compulsory Education Law of the People's Republic of China
(Adopted at the 41st Session of the Standing Committee of the 9th Shanghai Municipal People's Congress on February 6, 1993; amended in accordance with the Decision on the Amendment of the Procedures of Shanghai Municipality on the Implementation of the Compulsory Education Law of the People's Republic of China adopted at the 40th Session of the Standing Committee of the 10th Shanghai Municipal People's Congress on December 10, 1997; revised at the 9th Session of the Standing Committee of the 13th Shanghai Municipal People's Congress on February 24, 2009)
Chapter I General Provisions Article 1 With a view to safeguarding the legitimate rights of the school-age children and juveniles to accept compulsory education, pushing forward the balanced development of compulsory education, enhancing the quality education, ensuring the implementation of compulsory education, these Procedures are formulated on the basis of the Compulsory Education Law of the People's Republic of China, and other relevant laws, rules and regulations, and in the light of the actual circumstances of this Municipality.
Article 2 These Procedures apply to the implementation of compulsory education and the related administrative activities within the administrative area of this Municipality.
Article 3 This Municipality's compulsory education, under the leadership of the State Council, practices the system of the Municipal People's Government carrying out the overall planning for implementation, and the district/county people's government acting as the principal in administration.
The municipal and district/county administrative departments of education take the specific responsibility for the implementation work of compulsory education; and the other relevant municipal and district/county administrative departments are responsible for the implementation work of compulsory education within the scope of their respective duties.
The town/township people's government is encouraged to support the development of compulsory education within its own administrative areas in terms of school-running conditions, school-running funds, etc.
Article 4 This Municipality shall bring the compulsory education undertakings into the national economic and social development planning of the whole Municipality.
Article 5 Tuition fees, miscellaneous fees, textbook fees, and exercise-book fees are exempted in the implementation of compulsory education in this Municipality.
Article 6 The municipal and district/county people's governments shall, in accordance with the law, guarantee the funds, teachers, school buildings, facilities and equipment, etc. needed for the implementation of compulsory education.
Article 7 The municipal and district/county people's governments shall rationally allocate the resources of compulsory education to narrow the gap between town and county, among different regions, and among different schools in school-running conditions and level, thus promoting the balanced development of compulsory education.
Article 8 The municipal and district/county people's governments and their administrative department of education shall push forward the implementation of quality education.
Schools shall carry out the education and teaching activities in accordance with the requirements of quality education.
Article 9 This Municipality adopts the supervision system of compulsory education. The education supervisory organs of the municipal and district/county people's governments shall carry out the supervision work in accordance with the law.
Article 10 Where major events in violation of the laws and regulations concerning compulsory education occur, thus hindering the implementation of compulsory education in this Municipality and causing big social influences, the person-in-charge of the people's government or the administrative department of education bearing the leadership responsibility shall take the blame to himself/herself and resign.
Chapter II Administration on Going to School Article 11 All children of six years old or above shall be sent by their parents or other legal guardians to school to accept and accomplish the compulsory education.
Where a school-age child or juvenile needs to postpone the enrollment or suspend the schooling owing to his/her physical condition, his/her parents or other legal guardians shall file an application to the local district/county administrative department of education or the local town/township people's government for approval.
Article 12 School-age children and juveniles shall enter school without taking any examination. No school is allowed to hold or hold in disguised form the screening examination or test linked to the enrollment, or take the contest achievements or grading test certificates of any kind as the entrance condition or the basis for organizing the class.
Article 13 School-age children and juveniles with Shanghai household residence shall be enrolled in nearby schools where their household residence is located. The scope of nearby enrollment shall be rationally determined and made public by the district/county administrative department of education in accordance with the layout of schools within its administrative area, and the number and distribution situation of school-age children and juveniles.
Article 14 Where the school-age children or juvenile without Shanghai household residence living together with their parents or other legal guardians need to accept compulsory education in this Municipality during the period when their parents or other legal guardians work or live in this Municipality, their parents or other legal guardians shall apply to the local district/county administrative department of education at the locality of their residence for enrollment against their personal ID and employment certificate or personal ID and living certificate, the personal ID of the school-age children or juveniles, and other certifying materials, and the district/county administrative department of education shall make an overall settlement of the issue.
Article 15 The administrative departments of justice, and education of this Municipality shall, in accordance with their respective duties, carry out compulsory education for those juvenile criminals who have not accomplished the compulsory education course, and those minors subjected to mandatory education measures, and the Municipal People's Government shall guarantee the needed funds.
The juvenile criminals discipline education organs and minors mandatory education organs of this Municipality shall, in accordance with relevant provisions of this Municipality, take charge of organizing the education and teaching activities in the implementation of compulsory education.
Article 16 For those students who had already accepted nine-year compulsory education but failed to reach the education level of a junior middle school graduate, the district/county administrative department of education shall continue to provide corresponding cultural education or corresponding professional skills training jointly with the district/county human resources and social security department until they reach the statutory labor age.
Article 17 Schools shall establish and perfect the school-parent liaison system, establish the parents' committee and solicit its opinions on those major matters involving the students' legitimate rights and interests.
Article 18 The school shall criticize and educate those students violating the school management system, and help them to correct mistakes, but shall not persuade them to quit school or expel them from school.
Chapter III Fundamental Guarantees Article 19 The Municipal People's Government and its relevant administrative departments shall, in accordance with the State's provisions, formulate this Municipality's standards for school construction, average public outlay per student, authorized strength of teaching and administrative staff.
The district/county people's government shall ensure the implementation of the standards mentioned in the preceding clause within its own administrative area.
Article 20 The municipal and district/county people's government shall wholly bring the compulsory education into the scope of financial guarantee, and independently list the compulsory education funds in the financial budget.
This Municipality levies a surcharge on education in accordance with the law, and mainly uses such surcharge on the implementation of compulsory education.
Article 21 The Municipal People's Government may set up the special fund for compulsory education according to the actual requirements to support those area with difficulties in school-running funds to implement compulsory education.
Article 22 The people's governments at all levels of this Municipality shall enhance the input in compulsory education in accordance with the administration system of compulsory education and the management system of finance, so as to guarantee a higher growth rate of financial allocation for implementing compulsory education than that of finance regular revenues, a gradual increase of the average compulsory education expenditure based on the number of students at school, and a gradual increase of wages and salaries of the teaching and administrative staff and the average public outlay per student.
Article 23 The district/county people's government shall appropriate the education funds in accordance with the number of school-age children and juveniles actually enrolled by a school and the number of teaching and administrative staff of schools, so as to guarantee schools' normal conducting of education and teaching activities.
For those non-governmental schools entrusted by the government to carry out compulsory education, the municipal administrative department of education and the district/county people's government shall appropriate corresponding education funds in accordance with relevant provisions of the State and this Municipality.
Article 24 The compulsory education fund shall be used for compulsory education strictly in accordance with the provisions on budget. No organization or individual person is allowed to embezzle the education fund or divert it to other purposes, and to illegally collect charges from schools or apportion charges among schools.
Article 25 This Municipality shall perfect the wages and salary system for teachers. The municipal and district/county people's governments shall narrow the gap among districts/counties and among schools in teachers' wages, and push forward the balancing of wages among teachers in the whole Municipality. The average wages level of teachers shall not be lower than that of local public servants.
Article 26 The municipal and district/county auditing organs shall carry out the auditing and supervision over the revenue and expenditure management situation of compulsory education fund in accordance with the law.
The municipal administrative department of education shall, jointly with the municipal departments of finance, and statistics, carry out regular monitoring on the input and performance situation of compulsory education fund of the district/county people's government, and make public the monitoring results to the society.
Article 27 The municipal and district/county people's governments shall, in accordance with relevant provisions of the State and this Municipality, formulate and adjust the planning of school set-up, and distribute schools rationally at the time of organizing the drawing-up or approving the urban overall planning and regulatory plans.
This Municipality perfects and improves the public auxiliary construction system of education. Where schools shall be set up in newly-built residential areas according to the needs of planning, they shall be established in synchronization with the construction of the residential areas.
Article 28 Schools constructed as the supporting facilities for newly-built residential areas shall be administered by the district/county administrative department of education, and their use nature shall not be arbitrarily altered.
Where schools shall be demolished and relocated owing to the needs of construction, the demolishing and relocating party shall reconstruct the schools in accordance with the layout of planning or make compensation.
The district/county administrative department of education shall properly arrange the schooling for those students of the demolished schools.
Article 29 The district/county people's government shall organize relevant departments to regularly carry out safety inspection over the school buildings, grounds, facilities and equipment; maintenance and renovation shall be carried out in proper time when necessary.
Article 30 The municipal and district/county administrative departments of education shall regularly organize trainings for teachers in accordance with relevant provisions of the State and this Municipality, so as to raise the teachers' vocational quality and professional level.
Schools shall formulate the training plan for teachers, and rationally arrange for teachers to participate in various kinds of training.
Article 31 The district/county administrative department of education shall appoint principals in accordance with the conditions for holding a post as provided by the State.
Chapter IV Balanced Development Article 32 This Municipality improves the financial transfer payment system of compulsory education funds, enhances the scale of financial transfer payment for those districts and counties with limited finance resources, so as to support and guide the district/county people's government to increase the input in compulsory education, and narrow the gap of compulsory education funds between town and county, and among regions.
The transfer payment scheme of compulsory education funds shall be formulated by the municipal finance department jointly with the municipal administrative department of education, and be implemented upon the approval of the Municipal People's Government.
The district/county people's government shall use all compulsory education funds through municipal-level transfer payment on compulsory education as provided.
Article 33 The municipal administrative department of education shall make the overall planning for the allocation of education and teaching facilities and equipment in this Municipality, so as to promote the balancing of education and teaching facilities and equipment between town and county, and among regions.
The district/county people's government and its administrative department of education shall allocate the education and teaching facilities and equipment of schools within its own administrative area in a balanced manner.
Article 34 The municipal administrative department of education shall make the overall planning for the building of the contingent of teachers in this Municipality, and push forward the cooperation, exchange, and rational floating of principals and teachers between town and county, and among regions.
The district/county administrative department of education shall establish the cooperation and exchange system of principals and teachers and allocate the teachers resources within its own administrative area in a balanced manner, so as to enable each school to have a certain proportion of senior-post teachers. The training of teachers and the allocation of backbone teachers shall be carried out in favor of the rural schools and other schools with comparatively limited teachers' resources.
The municipal administrative department of education shall formulate the specific procedures on the cooperation, exchange, and rational floating of school principals and teachers.
Article 35 This Municipality encourages school principals and teachers in central urban areas to go to schools in rural areas to support the work of compulsory education. Under the same conditions, prior consideration shall be given to the above-mentioned principals and teachers in terms of principals' holding of a post, teachers' post evaluation and engagement, teachers' vocational studies and trainings, or enrollment for graduate studies on education majors at this Municipality's institutions of higher learning.
Where senior-post teachers going to rural schools to support compulsory education are still teaching in rural schools when they reach the mandatory retirement age, their retirement age may be properly extended in accordance with relevant provisions of this Municipality.
The provisions in preceding two clauses are applicable to those excellent principals and senior-post teachers who have long worked or taught in rural schools.
Article 36 The district/county people's government and its administrative department of education shall not divide schools into key-schools and non-key-schools. Schools shall not set up or set up in disguised form key-classes and non-key-classes.
Article 37 The municipal and district/county administrative departments of education shall push forward the sharing of resources of education facilities and equipment, courses, teachers, etc. between town and county, among regions, and among schools, so as to enhance the use benefit of resources.
Chapter V Quality Education Article 38 The implementation of quality education shall conform to the law of education and teaching, unify moral education, intellectual education, physical education, and aesthetic education organically, stress the cultivation of students' capability of independent thinking, innovation, and practice, so as to promote the students' all-round development.
Article 39 Schools shall adhere to people-orientation in education, give priority to moral education, contain the moral education in education and teaching, and enhance the education on patriotism, Chinese traditional virtues, life, mental health, legal system, and daily conduct norms among students, so as to form an ideological and moral education system featuring mutual cooperation among schools, families, and society, and promote students' cultivation of good ideology, morality, and habits.
A teacher shall be the model of virtue for others, scrupulously honor the professional ethics, and use his/her own good morality and words, and deeds to affect and educate students.
Article 40 The municipal administrative department of education shall, in accordance with the State's requirements, push forward the reforms in the aspects of education and teaching contents, the curriculum set-up, and the examination, enrollment, and evaluation system, so as to promote the implementation of quality education.
Schools shall improve and innovate on the education and teaching methods in accordance with the requirements of quality education, and carry out the education and teaching activities in line with the education and teaching contents and curriculum determined by the State.
Article 41 Schools shall scientifically and rationally arrange the students' lessons in accordance with the students' physical and mental characteristics, and growth pattern, and shall not occupy the class hours for lessons on morality and ethics, physical training, music, art, social practice, etc.; schools shall organize students to carry out various kinds of physical exercises and extracurricular activities to cultivate their self-control abilities, and improve their physical and mental quality. Students' parents shall actively cooperate with the schools to carry out quality education, and jointly promote the students' all-round development.
Teachers are not allowed to force or force in disguised form students to use extracurricular time to participate in paid remedial lessons or other activities of the same nature.
Article 42 Schools shall organize students to participate in social public-welfare activities suiting their physical and mental characteristics.
Article 43 The municipal administrative department of education shall establish and perfect the school appraisal system with the quality education as the main index, and the student appraisal system with the students' comprehensive quality as the main index. The district/county administrative department of education may formulate specific appraisal procedures in accordance with the appraisal system formulated by the municipal administrative department of education, and in the light of the actual circumstances of its own administrative area, and shall not use the enrollment quotas as the sole standard for the appraisal of school education quality, or use the subject examination result as the sole standard for the performance check on teachers and the appraisal on students.
Article 44 The municipal administrative department of education shall organize the compilation of and examination on textbooks in accordance with the State's educational policies and curriculum standards by taking the implementation of quality education as the target, so as to push forward the curriculum reform of primary schools and middle schools.
Article 45 Schools shall organize students to carry out cultural activities and science and technology activities in accordance with the requirements of quality education, and organize in a planned way the students to visit museums, science popularization museum, memorial museums, patriotism education bases, etc.
Patriotism education bases, libraries, youth palaces, children activities centers shall be available free to students. Museums, science popularization museum, memorial museums shall be available free to students or on preferential terms in accordance with relevant provisions, so as to provide support for schools in the implementation of quality education.
Chapter VI Legal Liability Article 46 Where the people's government at any level in this Municipality fails to perform the duties of guaranteeing the compulsory education funds, its superior government shall order a correction within a prescribed time limit in accordance with the law; where the case is serious, the directly liable person-in-charge and other directly liable persons shall be given disciplinary sanctions in accordance with the law.
Where the municipal or district/county people's government fails to formulate or adjust the allocation planning of schools, or regularly organize relevant departments to carry out safety inspection over the school buildings, grounds, facilities and equipment and timely maintenance and renovation in accordance with relevant provisions of the State, the superior people's government shall order a correction within a prescribed time limit; where the case is serious, the directly liable person-in-charge and other directly liable persons shall be given disciplinary sanctions in accordance with the law.
Where the district/county people's government or administrative department of education divides schools into key schools and non-key schools, the superior people's government or administrative department of education shall order a correction within a prescribed time limit, and circulate a notice of criticism; where the case is serious, the directly liable person-in-charge and other directly liable persons shall be given disciplinary sanctions in accordance with the law.
Article 47 For the act of embezzling or diverting the compulsory education funds to other purposes, or illegally collecting charges from schools or apportioning charges among schools, the superior people's government or its administrative departments of education, finance, price control, and auditing organ shall, according to their division of duties, order a correction within a prescribed time limit in accordance with the law; where the case is serious, the directly liable person-in-charge and other directly liable persons shall be given sanctions in accordance with the law.
Article 48 Where parents or other legal guardians of school-age children and juveniles fail, without justified reasons, to send school-age children and juveniles to schools to accept compulsory education in accordance with the provisions of these Procedures, the local district/county administrative department of education or the local town/township people's government shall criticize and educate related parents or other legal guardians, and order a correction within a prescribed time limit.
Article 49 For schools in any one of the following situations, the local district/county administrative department of education shall criticize and educate them, and order a correction within a prescribed time limit; where the case is serious, the directly liable person-in-charge and other directly liable persons shall be given sanctions in accordance with the law.
1. holding or holding in disguised form the screening examination or test linked to the enrollment, or taking the contest achievements or grading test certificates of any kind as the entrance condition or the basis for organizing the class;
2. occupying the class hours for lessons on morality and ethics, physical training, music, art, or social practice;
3. forcing or forcing in disguised form the students to use extracurricular time to participate in paid remedial lessons or other activities of the same nature;
4. setting up or setting up in disguised form key-classes and non-key-classes; or
5. persuading the students violating the school management system to quit school or expelling them from school.
Article 50 For the act of arbitrarily altering the use nature of schools constructed as the supporting facilities for newly-built residential areas, punishment shall be imposed in accordance with the provisions of the Regulations of Shanghai Municipality on Urban Planning.
Chapter VII Supplementary Provisions
Article 51 Where non-government schools run by mass organizations or individual persons carry out compulsory education in accordance with the law, the provisions of Law of the People's Republic of China on Promoting Non-government Education shall be enforced; where the Law of the People's Republic of China on Promoting Non-government Education carries no provision in this regard, the Compulsory Education Law of the People's Republic of China and these Procedures shall apply.
Article 52 These Procedures shall become effective as of June 1, 2009.