As explicitly stipulated in the Article 46 of the current Constitution of the People''s Republic of China, "Citizens of the People''s Republic of China shall have the right and obligation to receive education." As provided in the Article 9 of the Education Law of the People''''s Republic of China adopted at the Third Session of the Eighth Standing Committee of the National People''s Congress on March 18, 1995 and effective as of September 1, 1995, "Citizens of the People''''s Republic of China shall have the right and obligation to receive education. All citizens, regardless of ethnic group, race, sex, occupation, property status or religious belief, shall enjoy equal opportunities for education according to law." According to the Article 36 of the law, "Education receivers shall enjoy equal rights in going to school, entering higher school, employment and etc." Moreover, pursuant to the Article 77 of the law, "If anyone practices favouritism or other irregularities in enrolling students or other trainees, he shall be ordered by the relevant administrative department of education to dismiss the students or trainees; the leading persons directly in charge and other persons directly responsible for it shall be given administrative sanctions according to the law; if the case constitutes a crime, the offender shall be investigated for criminal responsibility according to the law." The Article 80 provides, "The relevant administrative department of education shall nullify the academic degree certificates, educational qualification certificates or other education certificates that are issued in violation of the provisions of this Law, and shall order their return or confiscation; the unlawful gains, if any, shall be confiscated; if the case is serious, the institution concerned shall be disqualified for conferring the certificates." The Article 81 also provides, "If anyone, in violation of the provisions of this Law, infringes upon the lawful rights and interests of teachers, educatees or schools or other institutions of education, thus causing losses or damage, he shall bear civil liabilities according to the law." Furthermore, the Article 9 of the Higher Education Law clearly stipulates, "Citizens have the right to higher education according to law."
Specifically, the right to education is included in social rights. The government shall be responsible for the realization of the right to education. The constitution fundamentally guarantees the right to education. Common laws, including the Education Law, specify concrete ways how the constitution guarantees the realization of the right to education through specific provisions. Therefore, the questions such as whether the right to education belongs to public rights or private rights and whether it belongs to constitutional rights or civil rights are not real problems.[7] The problem of education itself is a social problem. As the right to education is an essential social and economic right, the state plays an important role in guaranteeing the realization of the right to right. In essence, the development of education ultimately depends on the level of social development. Social and economic development provides fundamental guarantee for the adequate realization of the right to education. The government of a state must make the greatest efforts to develop economy and to ensure that the right to education is protected to the extent that it is supposed to, and thus, to make the development of education in harmony with the development of society and the state''s capacity of fulfilling obligations.
