China’s unequal educational system and declining working-age population are proving to be a double whammy for China in accomplishing its economic ambitions, said a US Congressional panel on February 24, reported the Indo-Pacific Center for Strategic Communications (IPCSC). The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, an independent panel established by the Congress in 2000, stated that the rural-urban divide in China on the educational front will prevent the country from surpassing the US in economy and science and technology fields at a time when China is aiming to replace the US by 2030 as the world’s military and economic superpower.
According to the South China Morning Post, citing a US Congressional panel, Chinese students in rural areas struggle with poor teachers, nutritional deficiencies, and mobility issues, whereas education in urban areas places a strong emphasis on creativity and innovation, assisting young people in arming themselves with knowledge and skills. Additionally, high school students in economically developed Chinese provinces excel in science and math and receive an education of a high calibre, but in less economically developed provinces of China, there is a gap in access to quality education, even in urban areas, according to a US Congressional panel.
Although rural students make up two-thirds of all pupils in China, the rural-urban difference is still significant, according to the US Congressional panel. According to Prashant Loyalka, an associate professor at Stanford University, “Chinese students may be entering university with higher levels of achievement compared to their peers abroad, but they showed little progress in basic academic skills and critical thinking over the course of their studies.” According to a report in IPCSC, Chinese thinkers are also concerned about the current quality of education in China at a time when international rivalry for the greatest technology to improve economies and societies is rising. Because it directly affects the quality of the workforce, the majority of whom are unable to manage China’s shift towards production automation, which has become crucial for the country to deal with issues brought about by its ageing population. According to UN estimates from July 2022, China’s population is expected to drop below 400 million by the year 2100. Additionally, according to a 2021 analysis by the international management consulting firm McKinsey, up to 220 million Chinese workers may need to change careers by 2030 as a result of automation.
China’s GDP increased by an average of more than 10 percent a year between 1978 and 2013, according to World Scientific, a Singapore-based publishing house. As a result, the publishing company reported that China had overtaken the US as the second-largest economy since 2011. Unfortunately, it looks like the time of extraordinary economic development is coming to an end. According to World Scientific, China’s annual GDP growth rate has fallen from 12 percent to 6 percent since 2011 and appears to be trending downward. The main causes of this have been attributed to the lack of skilled labour and the predominance of labour-intensive production methods in China’s manufacturing units.