Importance of Updating Educational Thinking as Seen from the Problem of Junior High School Dropouts in Guangzhou City Districts

Implementing a nine-year compulsory educational system is an important guarantee of the qualitative improvement of our nation and the development of spiritual and material civilization. In support of the forthcoming implementation of the nine-year compulsory education system in Guangzhou, we investigated, from February to July 1986, the problem of junior high school dropouts in the city, that is, those who stopped school for reasons other than going abroad, illness, or assuming employment as a replacement for a retiree in the family. We selected, from each of the four city districts, samples from one school where the dropout rate was highest in the 1984-85 school year. We requested that supervisors of the classes under investigation fill out questionnaires and called meetings of school authorities, supervisors, and teachers. We also interviewed parents of fourteen dropouts. In addition, we mailed teacher questionnaires to five other schools. From the nine schools we received a total of 253 responses.