<P> Shanghai ranked first in the 2009 and 2012 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), a worldwide study of academic performance of 15 - year - old students conducted by the OECD . Shanghai students, including migrant children, scored highest in every aspect (math, reading and science) in the world . The study concludes that public - funded schools in Shanghai have the highest educational quality in the world . Critics of PISA results counter that, in Shanghai and other Chinese cities, most children of migrant workers can only attend city schools up to the ninth grade, and must return to their parents' hometowns for high school due to hukou restrictions, thus skewing the composition of the city's high school students in favor of wealthier local families . </P> <P> Shanghai is the first city in the country to implement 9 - year mandatory education . The 2010 census shows that out of Shanghai's total population, 22.0% had a college education, double the level from 2000, while 21.0% had high school, 36.5% middle school, and 1.35% primary school education . 2.74% of residents age 15 and older were illiterate . </P> <P> Shanghai has more than 930 kindergartens, 1,200 primary and 850 middle schools . Over 760,000 middle schools students and 871,000 primary school students are taught by 76,000 and 64,000 teaching staff respectively . </P> <P> Shanghai is a major center of higher education in China with over 30 universities and colleges . A number of China's most prestigious universities are based in Shanghai, including Fudan University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Tongji University, East China Normal University (these universities are selected as "985 universities" by the Chinese Government in order to build world - class universities). In 2012 NYU Shanghai was established in Pudong by New York University in partnership with East China Normal University as the first Sino - US joint venture university . In 2013 the Shanghai Municipality and the Chinese Academy of Sciences founded the ShanghaiTech University in the Zhangjiang Hi - Tech Park in Pudong . This new research university is aiming to be a first - class institution on a national and international level . The cadre school China Executive Leadership Academy in Pudong is also located in Shanghai, as well as the China Europe International Business School . </P>

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