Mitigation of Regional Disparities in Quality Education for Maintaining Sustainable Development at Local Study Centres: Diagnosis and Remedies for Open Universities in China

Abstract

Regional disparities in quality education remain a sensitive issue in developing and developed countries and also in basic and higher education. The issue for the moment is especially crucial for open educational institutions regarding the stability of the open education ecosystem and the capacity for sustainable development. Our research focuses on the aspect of the quality of teaching and learning and its enhancement. In the study, we systematically explored the regional disparities of teaching and learning quality in local study centres with samples of 72 from Jiangsu Open University (JOU), China. With statistical toolkits and a typological research paradigm, we have identified the ranking of the local study centres according to holistic performance. By the clustering methods, we categorised the local study centres as belonging to four types: potentially contradictory, urgently to be reformed, less cost-effective, and normatively autonomous in terms of their basic attributes, learners’ support services, and teaching commitment. The research findings proved that the region where the study centres are located did have impacts on the quality of teaching and learning, and the scalability of student enrolment. The authors conclude and suggest that mitigation of the regional disparities in quality education will facilitate the optimisation of the local study centres in the regional education ecosystem and maintain sustainable development.