Overview

Since it was first established, this dream city became famous for the so-called "Shenzhen Speed," a term which has been used to describe its rapid pace of development. Shenzhen Speed refers to how quickly the International Trade Center Building was built, at a rate of "one story in only three days." In fact, the preparation for and establishment of Shenzhen University, as well as its enrollment of students, also added to the legend of "Shenzhen Speed."

Institute by institute, "Shenzhen Speed" continues to play out in the development of Shenzhen's education field.

Let the data speak: 

As of October 2022, Shenzhen had a total of 2,766 schools and kindergartens of all levels and types, with 2.562 million students and 252,000 faculty members (including 166,000 full-time teachers), an increase of 49.03%, 68.73% and 91.76%, respectively, compared to 2012. Shenzhen ranks second in terms of the scale of basic education among the country's first-tier cities. A breakdown of these figures shows there were 1,896 kindergartens, with 600,000 children; 713 schools for compulsory education, with 1.526 million students; 105 regular senior high schools with 170,000 students; 26 secondary vocational schools with 86,000 students; and 14 full-time colleges and universities with 145,000 students.

It's worth mentioning that: 

Batches of outstanding talents continue to flow in, with the proportion of primary school teachers holding a bachelor's degree or above jumping from 71.3% in 2012 to 94.5%, and the proportion of kindergarten teachers holding an associate degree or above jumping from 65% in 2012 to 95.5%. Some 34.6% of the city's senior high school teachers have a master's degree or above, the highest in the country.

The scale of special education has also been expanding, with the number of special education schools having increased from one to eight, and the number of comprehensive special education schools that meet national standards climbing from one to three. In 2020, the compulsory education enrollment (placement) rate of school-age children and adolescents with disabilities was 96.75%, exceeding the national standard of no less than 95%.

School placements guaranteed

During the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020), school placements for basic education increased by 400,000, up nearly 30%. In 2021, 131,000 additional school slots for basic education were added, a record high. The Shenzhen Municipal Committee of the CPC and the Shenzhen Municipal Government have implemented a large-scale school construction plan. From 2022 to 2025, 777,000 new school placements for basic education will be added, including 93,000 regular public senior high schools, 585,000 school slots for compulsory education, and 99,000 available slots for kindergarteners.

The number of children migrating to Shenzhen with their parents amid their nine-year compulsory education period has reached 838,500 in Shenzhen, accounting for 54.9% of the total number of the city's available school slots for children of compulsory education age.

Preschool education

As of October 2022, there were 1,896 kindergartens in Shenzhen, including 865 public kindergartens and 720 inclusive private schools. There were 597,600 students of this age group in the city, of which 307,800 were in public kindergartens, accounting for 51.5% of the city's total. There were 519,600 children in inclusive kindergartens (including public kindergartens and inclusive private kindergartens), accounting for 86.95% of the city's total. There were 42,400 full-time kindergarten teachers.

Primary and secondary education

As of October 2022, there were 829 primary and secondary schools in Shenzhen, including 343 primary schools, 370 junior high schools, 105 regular senior high schools, and 11 special education and specialized schools. There were 1.6987 million students in these schools, including 1.133 million in primary schools, 393,600 in junior high schools, 169,500 in regular senior high schools, and 2,537 in special education and specialized schools. There were 110,400 full-time teachers, including 63,600 in primary schools, 31,500 in junior high schools, 14,300 in regular senior high schools, and 854 in special education and specialized schools.

Education map

Higher education

As of October 2022, there were 15 colleges and universities in Shenzhen, including six municipal colleges and universities, namely Shenzhen University, the Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen Technology University, Shenzhen Polytechnic, Shenzhen Institute of Information Technology, Shenzhen Open University (part-time). The city also has five domestic cooperative universities: Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen; Sun Yat-sen University Shenzhen Campus; Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School; Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School; Shenzhen Tourism College of Jinan University; and the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen. The three higher learning institutions established in cooperation with overseas universities are: Shenzhen MSU-BIT University; and Georgia Tech Shenzhen Institute, Tianjin University. Guangdong Xin'an Polytechnic is the only privately run college in Shenzhen.

Shenzhen has been exploring new paths in the leapfrogging development of higher education for emerging developed cities. Over the past decade, the city has set up eight regular institutions of higher learning, namely the Southern University of Science and Technology; The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen; Shenzhen MSU-BIT University; Sun Yat-sen University Shenzhen Campus; Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen; Shenzhen Technology University; Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School; and Georgia Tech Shenzhen Institute, Tianjin University. In doing so, the city has applied "Shenzhen Speed" to the field of education. During the period of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025), the city will prepare for the establishment of Shenzhen Ocean University, Shenzhen Institute of Design and Innovation, Shenzhen University of Technology under the the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Shenzhen Conservatory of Music. The University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen will also be jointly set up during this period.

As of October 2022, there were 145,200 full-time students in the city's colleges and universities, including 28,702 graduate students, 56,943 undergraduates and 59,536 junior college students. The number of full-time teachers was 8,426.

In February 2022, the Southern University of Science and Technology was included by the Ministry of Education in the plan to set up a series of world-class universities and first-class disciplines, dubbed the "Double First-Class Initiative." In July 2021, seven local universities were selected for the third round of the high-level university construction plan in Guangdong Province. They included Shenzhen University; the Southern University of Science and Technology; The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen; Shenzhen MSU-BIT University; Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen; Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School; and Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School. One local university, Shenzhen Technology University, was included in the "Enhancement Program for Universities with Distinguishing Features." Two universities in Shenzhen — the Southern University of Science and Technology and Shenzhen University —ranked 9th and 17th, respectively, among Chinese mainland universities in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2022. A total of 44 majors at local universities were selected to cultivate national first-class undergraduate majors, while 40 disciplines were selected as key disciplines of higher education in Guangdong Province, and 25 disciplines joined the top 1% of the Essential Science Indicators (ESI) global rankings.

Some 70% of full-time teachers in the city's colleges and universities have doctoral degrees, ranking among the highest rate in the country.

Shenzhen Virtual University Park

Established in 1999, Shenzhen Virtual University Park (SZVUP) is China's first innovative demonstration base to facilitate collaboration among universities, industry partners and research institutions, integrating the resources of domestic and foreign institutions. Designed based on a model of one campus for multiple universities, the park is co-sponsored by the Shenzhen Municipal Government and various universities.

—SZVUP brings together 68 prestigious universities from China and overseas, including 11 universities that rank among the top 100 in the QS World University rankings, as well as all member universities of the C9 League and 30 universities under Project 985, a national initiative to bring a handful of elite domestic universities to international prominence.

—The virtual university park covers an area of 284,000 square meters, with the total floor area reaching 500,000 square meters. Seventeen member institutions have built industrialization bases at the park.

— There are 19 incubation institutions of various types led by colleges and universities in the virtual university park, three national technology transfer demonstration institutions, 15 municipal technology transfer institutions, two national incubators for science and technology business enterprises, and six national startup spaces. It has so far incubated a total of 1,709 science and technology enterprises and 39 listed companies.

— Some 445,000 people have received training of various kinds at the park, including 2,533 who have enrolled in doctoral degree programs, 55,497 who have enrolled in master's degree programs and 77,479 people who have completed bachelor's degree programs.

—The park boasts four postdoctoral research workstations and 370 postdoctoral fellows.

— It is home to 13 new types of R&D institutions in Guangdong Province and 78 platforms for innovation such as key labs above the municipal level, which have carried out 1,851 national projects and3,338provincial and municipal projects, obtained 2,952 patents and published 8,619 papers.

Vocational education

As of October 2022, there were 29 vocational schools with 145,600 students in Shenzhen. Among them, three are higher vocational schools with 59,500 full-time students, 15 are secondary vocational schools with 40,200 students, and 11 are technical schools with 45,900 students.

In December 2019, Shenzhen Polytechnic and Shenzhen Institute of Information Technology were included in a program for the construction of high-level vocational schools and majors with Chinese characteristics. In December 2020, the Ministry of Education and the Guangdong Provincial Government jointly issued a document on promoting the development of Shenzhen's vocational education, supporting Shenzhen to develop a national hub for this. In July 2021, the city’s experience in vocational education was promoted nationwide.

Teachers of basic education

As of October 2022, there were 155,658 full-time teachers in the city's primary and secondary schools (including secondary vocational schools) and kindergartens. Of the total, 17,230 full-time teachers were in senior high schools (including secondary vocational schools), 31,526 were in junior high schools, 63,640 in primary schools, 42,408 in kindergartens, and 854 in special education and specialized schools.