Assessment and Balanced Progression of Compulsory Education Resource Allocation in China’s New Era(PDF)
《南京师大学报》（社会科学版）[ISSN:1006-6977/CN:61-1281/TN]
- Issue:
- 2024年01期
- Page:
- 36-52
- Research Field:
- Publishing date:
Info
- Title:
- Assessment and Balanced Progression of Compulsory Education Resource Allocation in China’s New Era
- Author(s):
- CAI He; NIU Yingnan; LUO Liang
- Keywords:
- educational equity; compulsory education; allocation of educational resources; regional disparities
- PACS:
- -
- DOI:
- -
- Abstract:
- To what extent has the achievement of fundamental balance in compulsory education at the county level since beginning of the the new era promoted the nationwide balance of resource allocation for compulsory education (between different provinces within a certain region and between different regions in China)? Based on the national time series data and provincial panel data from 2012 to 2020, this study has established an assessment system for the allocation of compulsory education resources by employing the entropy-weighted TOPSIS, Dagum Gini coefficient, and Markov chain method to empirically examine the level of urban-rural resource distribution, regional disparities, and progression trends in China’s compulsory education. It has revealed significant enhancements in the allocation of resources for compulsory education both nationally and regionally, displaying a trend from low-level imbalance to high-level imbalance, with a notable feature of “central region collapse”. Nationwide, the general variance in compulsory education resource allocation is diminishing. However, substantial disparities persist in resource allocation among junior high schools in both rural and urban areas and urban primary schools within the eastern region, as well as between east-central, east-west, and northeast-central regions, where the inter-regional differences being the main source of overall disparity. The resource allocation levels for compulsory education in all provinces exhibit relative stability, with notable tendencies towards convergence at higher levels and sustained growth momentum. Consequently, fostering balanced compulsory education across counties is an essential route to addressing differences within and between the regions. It is crucial to optimize the structure of fiscal inputs while guaranteeing the total and incremental financial contributions to compulsory education, reinforce the provision and support of quality teachers in weaker regions, and build a legally supported financial cost-sharing mechanism for compulsory education across all levels of government, intensifying provincial governments’ overarching coordination to propel China’s compulsory education towards equitable high-quality standards.
Last Update: 2024-02-25