Economic and basic education development in China: A case study of the province of Jiangsu

Since the 1980s, the responsibility of providing basic education in China has been decentralized. During the transition from a centrally planned to a socialist market-oriented economy, the financial responsibility has also been decentralized to local educational authorities and non-governmental sources. Some studies have presented the relationship between economic development and educational development comparing different regions in China, arguing that educational disparity in rural-urban areas is the reflection of the disparity of economic development. And thus, regional disparity in education has become a major concern for policy makers and educators in China.; The issue of disparity exists even within the province. This study attempts to explain the association between economic development and educational development within Jiangsu Province. The research focuses on how economic disparity affected educational disparity among 75 counties in Jiangsu Province during the ten-year period from 1986 to 1995. Statistical analyses were conducted for the entire province to measure the equity trend by looking at horizontal equity and fiscal neutrality.; The study found that the relationship between local economy and educational development was a complex issue. Major findings include: (1){A0}in Jiangsu, regional economic disparity is significant and widened during the ten-year period; (2){A0}at the primary school level, educational disparity is minimal and the equity trend has improved; (3){A0}at the junior secondary school level, although educational disparity has lessened, some educational elements have not yet achieved an equitable point; (4){A0}primary school education has been universalized and regional economic disparity has not affected the level of educational achievement; (5){A0}the magnitude of the economic influence on education is stronger at the junior secondary level; (6){A0}in less developed areas, the local government's effort to institute a policy to universalize basic education is substantial; and (7){A0}in economically developed areas, local enterprise has contributed to increasing educational resources and further, education has come to be seen as a process enhancing the local labor force.; These findings indicate that apparently factors beyond the local economy have been influential in developing education in Jiangsu Province in China. The study provides some speculation about such factors.