Compulsory education includes nine years of compulsory education and 12 years of compulsory education, both of which are parallel. The nine-year compulsory education is widely available, while the twelve year compulsory education is mainly concentrated in ethnic minority areas, coastal areas and other developed areas, and has not been widely popularized.
The nine-year compulsory education system is the education that all school-age children and adolescents must receive and is a public welfare undertaking that the state must guarantee. The implementation of nine-year compulsory education means that school-age children and adolescents are free of tuition and miscellaneous fees for the nine-year period when they begin to receive education. The State establishes a mechanism for guaranteeing the funds for compulsory education to ensure the implementation of the compulsory education system. The nine-year compulsory education system is the current education system in China.
Twelve year compulsory education refers to the implementation of twelve year compulsory education by bringing high school education into the scope of compulsory education. Many places in China's special zones, ethnic minority areas, Zhejiang, Guangdong, and Hebei have tried free high school education, which has received good responses. However, it is mainly concentrated in ethnic minority areas, coastal areas and other developed areas, and has not been widely popularized.
In March 2017, during the two sessions of the National People's Congress, delegates talked about 12 years of compulsory education. Some CPPCC members proposed to popularize the 12 year compulsory education throughout the country. For this, all parties in the society have different opinions. Some scholars believe that the time is not yet ripe, and some scholars believe that China's basic conditions have already been met. Therefore, the proposal to popularize the 12 year compulsory education nationwide is still under further discussion.