Research On The Management Of Primary And Secondary Education Spending In Fujian Province

With the rise of the knowledge economy, a strong education system is more critical than ever to provincial prosperity and national competitiveness. Education is taking a bigger share of government spending and recent years have witnessed the major breakthroughs in the educational advancement in Fujian Province, which draws people’s attention to the development of primary and secondary education. It is true, however, that there still exist some obstacles in this area and education funding is an essential guarantee to provide educational opportunities, which without doubt will in turn impose great effects on the provincial economic development.Based on the data gathered and multiple theories related to public administration, the author attempts to illustrate in depth the determinants of primary and secondary education spending in Fujian Province over the last decade, such as its input, output and the effectiveness. Also, this paper examines the primary and secondary education spending among different cities, counties and provinces by exploring variables that have been used in explaining the spending level, and finds the reasons behind the existing problems in order to propose several recommendations.The paper shows that there are three major concerns in primary and secondary education spending. In the first place, the total amount of education spending is insufficient, especially in the remote and less-developed districts. Second, education spending varies widely and is not equally allocated. Furthermore, the effectiveness and efficiency of the education spending are challenged. Therefore, the countermeasures and suggestions can be divided into five parts. In hope of promoting the development of the primary and secondary education in Fujian Province, firstly, the local governments should be fully aware of their responsibilities to raise education spending, and the remote areas should be reprieved from insufficient education spending accordingly. Moreover, the allocation structure of the education spending needs to be optimized. In fact, the education spending will have a stronger and more powerful effect if it is targeted to the primary and secondary school in place of higher education. In addition, it is of vital importance for the performance measurement system and the supervision system to be implemented to boost the local government’s enthusiasm for education and ensure the education spending is used directly in the education process. Finally, it is highly suggested that laws and policies should be enacted to better the management of primary and secondary education spending.