Educational and Economic Development in the EthnicAutonomous Areas of Sichuan Province

Yang+Maorui+Jike+Linzhuo

Abstract：In the process of economic development of backward areas， human capital is much more important than material capital. This is because economic development mainly depends on human capital rather than material capital. Nowadays， human capital plays an irreplaceable role in the economic development. Just as the natural resources must be developed and processed before they become material capital， human resources also have to experience a process of investment and development before they become human capital. Otherwise， it is only a kind of basic labor force without skills or knowledge. There are many ways to invest in human resources， among them educational investment is the most important way. The results of the educational investment are reflected in： 1） promotion of peoples educational levels； 2） decline of illiteracy rates； and， 3） improvement of skills levels. Based on the demographic census data of 2000 and 2010， combined with the statistics yearbook of Sichuan provinces， and the data collected from personnel fieldwork， this article analyzes the role of education in the economic development of Sichuan province， and the problems in introducing talent into poor ethnic areas， and then， provides some policy suggestions.

The ethnic autonomous areas involved in this article include Aba TibetanQiang Autonomous Prefecture， Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture， Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture， Beichuan Qiang Autonomous County， Ebian Yi Autonomous County， Mabian Yi Autonomous County and Muli Tibetan Autonomous County. These cover an area of 3050 square kilometers， accounting for 63% of the total area of Sichuan province. The population of these areas is 734 million （at the end of the year of 2010）， accounting for 816% of the total population of Sichuan province. It is an area where the economy relatively lags behind. According to statistics， the per capita income of the ethnic autonomous areas of Sichuan in 2010 was less than 80% of the average of Sichuan province. Among the 36 key poverty alleviation counties in Sichuan， 20 are in ethnic autonomous areas. Hence， in order for the Sichuan ethnic autonomous areas to keep pace with the nation， and to realize the grand goal of constructing an affluent society， there must be investment to further strengthen human resources， and to develop all forms of education at different levels.

The research shows that the implementation of the TenYear Action Plan for Educational Development in Sichuan Ethnic Areas has significantly improved the educational level of the population in Sichuan ethnic autonomous areas， and promoted its social economic development. However， with regard to the needs of social economic development and construction of an affluent society， and compared with developed areas， the populations educational level in Sichuan ethnic autonomous areas is still very low； its illiteracy rate is very high； the percentage of skilloriented talent is especially low； and it has an extreme lack of people with higher education. All of these are disadvantages for constructing an affluent society in the Sichuan ethnic autonomous areas. Meanwhile， the investigation also shows that it is possible to encourage undergraduates to work in the Sichuan ethnic autonomous areas through a volunteer system ， but the most important thing is to build a sustainable incentive mechanism.

Based on the analysis in this article， the article provides the following suggestions：

1） further strengthen the recognition of the strategic position of investing in human resources. Both scholars and government have expounded at great length on the important strategic position of human resources investment. However， it is often emblazoned on banners or in slogans， and has not really been implemented. Therefore， one mechanism for strengthening the strategic position of human resources investment is to put the “No.1 leader” of the Party and government in the position of primary responsibility for promoting the priority of the development of human resources investment， and for taking the development of investment in human resources as an irreplaceable governmental performance evaluation index. Only when there are priorities in human resources investment can we have priorities in planning， investing and resource allocation.

2） practically consolidate the fundamental position of basic education， and realize the equalization of basic public education services. Basic education is the foundation for human resource investment， and is a public product. Although basic education in ethnic areas has developed greatly （this is reflected especially in the increase of average years of schooling） ， the low quality of education in ethnic autonomous areas should be noted. Thus， the position of basic education must be set. Firstly， we should increase investment in education， build up a basic public educational service system which covers both urban and rural areas. Secondly， we should strengthen the community of teachers； and promote a rational allocation of teacher resources. Thirdly， we should accelerate the development of ethnic educational affairs； and practically implement the TenYear Action Plan for Educational Development in Sichuan Ethnic Areas. Lastly， we should take references from complementary counterpart assistance mechanisms， and provide complementary counterpart assistance to the basic education in ethnic areas.

3）rapidly develop vocational and technical education in ethnic areas. The research reflects that an increase in the size of the skilledlaborforce can promote the investment of human capital. However， an important problem of the structure of human capital in Sichuan ethnic areas is the low percentage of a skilledlaborforce. An important approach to improve the percentage of a skilledlaborforce is via vocational and technical education. Firstly， we should pay high attention to vocational and technical education， fully realizing the importance of its role in economic construction and social development. Secondly， vocational and technical education should focus on serving the regional economic development； the professional structure should essentially coincide with the economic or industrial structure in ethnic areas. Thirdly， a collegeenterprise cooperation model should take the lead in running the schools.

4）strengthen the development of higher education in Sichuan ethnic areas. Another important problem of the structure of human resources in the ethnic areas is that the percentage of highlevel talent （i.e.，Bachelor， Masters， and higher degrees） is low， which is a disadvantage in the longterm development of the ethnic areas. Based on the need for senior specialized personnel for the social economic development in the ethnic areas， and compared with the actual situation of colleges in the ethnic areas， we should further strengthen the development of college education in ethnic areas.

5） accelerate the reform of the personnel system， and improve the employment and entrepreneurship environment， as well as the allocation of talent. The phenomenon that “college students favor taking examinations to become civil servants” reflects， from another aspect， that there is still a lot of room for improving the present employment and entrepreneurship environment. Due to different controls， the cost of the marketing departments becomes high， which， in turn， stimulates shorttermism and speculation in the markets. Hence， we must accelerate the reform of the personnel system， let the market play the decisive role in resource allocation， improve the commercial environment， encourage those talented people to start their own business or work in marketing departments， and improve the average capacity of talent in marketing departments. Only in this way can technical innovation continue in the long term， thereby， making it beneficial for creating a sustainable development for the ethnic areas which will overake the current backward development.

Key Words：Sichuan ethnic areas； education； human capital； economic development； talent

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