Basic Education Reform in China: A Critical Narrative Review of Policy Implementation, Educational Equity and Quality
Ikechukwu-Duru Stephanie Chinaekwu *
College of Education, Zhejiang Normal University, Zhejiang, Jinhua, China.
Ezrone Robert Mkandawire
College of Education, Zhejiang Normal University, Zhejiang, Jinhua, China.
Mirjam Tulitileni Dineinfe
College of Education, Zhejiang Normal University, Zhejiang, Jinhua, China.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
China's basic education reforms have moved from expanding compulsory-school access and stabilising public financing towards the more demanding objective of achieving equitable, high-quality learning. The combination of national legal commitments, county-level implementation, population mobility, parental educational competition and changing expectations of schools makes this transition analytically distinctive. This critical narrative review evaluates evidence on policy implementation, educational equity and the quality of teaching and learning, focusing on the nine years of compulsory schooling while considering preschool preparation and upper-secondary transition where they shape compulsory-school outcomes. Scholarly and institutional literature published through 29 August 2026 was examined using a transparent, thematic and design-sensitive approach. The synthesis differentiates statutory entitlements from effective access, financial redistribution from educational opportunity, and test performance from the broader quality of schooling. Fiscal reforms and expanded public provision have reduced important barriers, yet household registration, residential sorting, family resources and uneven teacher capacity continue to structure educational opportunity. Research on school consolidation reveals heterogeneous, sometimes gender-specific consequences. The 2021 Double Reduction policy and subsequent curriculum changes have encouraged greater attention to student well-being and school-based services, but their distributional effects vary with family resources and implementation quality. Observational studies suggest some improvement in reported mental-health indicators; they cannot by themselves isolate the policy from contemporaneous changes. Contradictory evidence is most intelligible when reform is treated as a multi-level process in which administrative incentives, school capacity and household responses mediate policy intentions. The review proposes an integrated framework linking resources, institutional access, enacted pedagogy, family adaptation and multidimensional outcomes. Future evaluations require credible comparison groups, longitudinal follow-up, locally disaggregated measures and stronger incorporation of student and teacher perspectives. Reform success should be judged by the joint distribution of opportunity, learning, well-being and transitions rather than by headline enrolment or examination performance alone.
Keywords: Compulsory schooling, hukou, educational stratification, double reduction policy, curriculum enactment, rural–urban disparities, shadow education, student well-being