Study on Grassroots Educational NGO-Government Relations in China and its Future

Abstract

Educational grassroots non-governmental organisations in China have gained unprecedented growth in civil society development. This study argues that the grassroots NGO-government relation is an essential feature of today's state-society relation. By using educational grassroots NGOs as the focus, the issues in the state-society relations are addressed. Through this relationship's theoretical perspective, the author finds solutions for the obstacles that hinder educational grassroots NGOs' development. A case study on Chengdu Young's Woman Christian Association (CDYMCA) is chosen to illustrate the problems that occurred between an educational grassroots NGO and the Chinese government. Firstly, without the legal right to carry out charitable fundraising activities in public, it led to CDYMCA finding ways to generate funds. Secondly, under the authoritarian governance, China's education sector has long been a government monopoly field meaning a limited space available for educational NGOs to develop. From the educational grassroots NGO's perspective, they should cooperate with other educational organizations and form alliances by exchanging their resources and needs, draw on each other's strengths, and develop cooperatively. As a result of sharing demands and developing education products, they could gain more support from the government to meet the public's needs. From the government's perspective, they should reduce administrative procedures, and lowering the barrier for educational grassroots NGOs to be registered could improve the relation.