Illiteracy Jumps in China, Despite 50-Year Campaign to Eradicate It

Literacy in China is defined according to an exam taken in fourth grade. Even if villagers pass that exam, they frequently do not pursue further education. Having no reason to read and write, many forget the skills. This is especially true of ethnic minorities, rural women and young dropouts, according to researchers.

"It's undeniable that there's a relapse, but what the number is, is hard to tell," said Guo Hongxia, a scholar at the China National Institute for Educational Research.

Hu Xingdou, a sociologist and professor of economics and China issues at Beijing Institute of Technology, suggested that the problem is related to the perceived benefits of education.

"Farmers don't see a bright future from receiving more education," he said. "Many believe it won't help them much in making money. They also can't afford to send their children to university, and a university degree no longer guarantees a job after graduation."

Farmers are expected to learn at least 1,500 characters, according to state education regulations. Urban residents should master 2,000. Teachers in Beijing often tell students they need to know 3,000 characters to read a newspaper. College graduates are tested on 7,000 characters or more.

In Liupu, located at the end of a three-mile-long, potholed dirt road, many of those who can't read and write are older, homebound women. Members of the Shezu ethnic minority, they speak their own dialect and have had little formal education.

Still, with the help of Zhao, the school principal, they are trying to make gains. On a recent Saturday night, Zhao used a flashlight to climb a rocky path of steps, past an old woman beating water out of pickled vegetables, up to a spartan wooden house.

Inside, two young volunteer teachers from his school and an older village party cadre sat in a circle, tutoring eight illiterate women, their faces lit by a soundless television.

"Actually, not many people have the patience to read this all the way through," said Zhao Tongxiu, a 24-year-old teacher, pointing at a page in a book. "Did your teacher teach you all this?"

"She taught us all of this, but I just cannot remember it," said his pupil, Wang Chengyi, who thought she was about 30 years old. "My child taught me how to write a little at home, but still I don't write well. I just can't memorize it. I'm already this old, what use is it studying?"

Many women here don't have time for class, the teachers said. They are tired after working 12-hour days in the fields and returning in the evening to feed their families.

Wu Wanqin, 44, the village cadre, earned 2 1/2 cents from the government as an incentive to get the women together Saturday. She would have to walk several of them home by flashlight afterward, and some lived half an hour away.