The inequality of educational resources and its countermeasures for rural revitalization in southwest China

Abstract

Equal access to education has long been a global concern and is important for rural revitalization strategy in the new era. However, little is known about the regional differences of educational resources in China, especially southwest China, where the spatial heterogeneity of human and physical geography is extremely significant. Using a dataset of primary and secondary schools of southwest China at county level in 2015, this study builds an index system to comprehensively measure the supply of educational resources, investigates the spatial pattern of educational resources via exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA), and explores its influence factors through spatial econometrics. Results indicated that the supply level of educational resources in southwest China was relatively low; the high-high clusters of the supply of educational resources were mainly located in Sichuan Basin and the east of Western Sichuan Plateau, while the concentrated poverty-stricken areas of Guizhou and the border areas of Yunnan-Sichuan-Guizhou, especially Wumeng mountain area, were characterized by the low-low clusters. Furthermore, this study suggested that altitude, population density, local government revenue and rural residents’ income were positively correlated with the supply of educational resources, while the negative influences were exerted by proportion of ethnic minority population and urbanization rate. And there were differences in the specific objects of actions of each factor. Ultimately, we proposed that village relocation and combination, as well as sustainable urbanization and regional development were practical paths to optimize the supply of educational resources in rural areas, thus promoting the modernization of agriculture and countryside.