CHINA CHANGING POLICY AND PRACTICE IN TELEVISION EDUCATION, 1978-1993

In the People's Republic in China, government policies are aimed at en abling the country to achieve by the year 2050 the same standard of ec onomic development as the middle group of developed countries, such as Portugal and Greece, reached in 1990. Education supported by televisi on has been given an important role to play, but China's policy and pr actice in television education has changed considerably since 1978. Th e remarkable growth of the television universities, started in 1979 wi th a terrestrial broadcasting system, was aided by a large World Bank loan. Reforms of the late 1980s in higher education led to a decline i n undergraduate numbers in these universities, but other reforms enabl ed them to serve new groups, such as those requiring specialised vocat ional courses. Next, the government decided to establish a satellite t elevision system for education, to serve several purposes including in -service training for primary and secondary school teachers, and ''pos t-university'' television education for technicians, managers and prof essional staff. The outcomes of these changing policies have been moni tored and to some extent evaluated, raising questions about the future of television education in China.