"The annual education expenditure per middle school student in 2010 in Beijing totaled 20,023 yuan, more than six times the 3,204 yuan spent in the poor province of Guizhou, according to the Ministry of Education."
"The consolidation of country schools—in response to declining numbers of rural kids as China urbanized—has worsened conditions, as closings outpace shrinking enrollments. In 1997, China had 630,000 primary schools; in 2011 it had 254,000, with average class sizes soaring, says education expert Yang. Primary schools are now more than five kilometers away from home on average, says Yang, so children face long commutes on dangerous country roads. Rural families pay up to 2,000 yuan annually in education costs, due in part to higher transportation expenses or dormitory fees for students who opt to board.
Note:
(a)
(i) summary underneath the title: With crowded classrooms and bribes, the education system is no communist paradise
(ii) excerpt underneath the title: 'In every good school, all the children are from families with money'
(b)
(i) photo caption: Last year, some students in Hubei had to bring their own desks to school
(ii) text: Students in an impoverished district of Hubei province were told to bring their own desks to class last year.
(c) "Yang Dongping, an education expert at the Beijing Institute of Technology and the dean of the 21st Century Education Research Institute."