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Would that be all Chinese children? or the only the children that are able to attend a school?
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<p>A very good question. All children who attend school at all in China attend a school at which the seventh grade curriculum includes algebra. The provision of schooling in China still lags behind that of many other countries. In Taiwan, for example, schooling has been free (= tax-supported), compulsory through junior high, and PROVIDED since the Baby Boom generation, and heavily attended beyond the compulsory age through high school (also free, in many cases) since that generation. In Singapore, the language of instruction is English, making simply going to school an experience in learning a foreign language, and schooling has only been compulsory in the last decade, but it has long been free and heavily attended. </p>
<p>The rural poor in China have a lot of problems because of their country's lousy government, and lack of provision of theoretically available school programs is one of them. (Rural schools in China impose tuition fees, fees too high for many rural families to pay, contrary to the practice of urban schools in China.) But the minority of pupils in China who live in urban areas have schools that are largely up to world standards, and are sometimes up to PHENOMENAL standards in some selective schools. (I have the textbooks at home, and I have met some of the alumni.) The state of Texas is wealthier and less multilingual than China as a whole, and ought to be able to meet the standards of schools anywhere in Taiwan or Singapore or those of schools in urban areas of China if it tries. </p>
<p>Originaloog's comments are interesting. In general, I'm in favor of pluralism in education, once "basics" are covered somehow. My experience of living abroad, where all the barbers and electricians had to finish junior high, and thus learn algebra, geometry, general physical science, etc., suggests that one doesn't become a worse barber by taking an algebra class. I do agree that electricians need job-specific technical training once they finish their basic good-citizens-and-informed-voters curriculum.</p>