Research On Inequality Of Opportunity In Basic Education In China

Education has always been a major concern in our society.From the micro perspective,education is not only an important channel for the bottom masses to move upward,but also an important mechanism for the realization of stratum reproduction.From the macroscopic perspective,as the starting point of social equity,educational equity is of great significance for promoting social equity.Government pays high attention to educational equity,and has launched a series of policies to promote educational equity,which has made remarkable progress in improving the average educational level of the general population.However,The gap in the quality of students' education is widening,and the stage of inequality occurs earlier and earlier.In 2019,the state council stressed that basic education should "focus on improving quality and promoting equity".Therefore,it is increasingly important to investigate the inequality in the quality of basic education,which is also of practical significance to build a moderately prosperous society in all respects and promote the equalization of basic public services.The study was based on Roemer's theory viewpoint about “inequality of opportunity”,adopting the micro data of China Education Pursue Survey(CEPS)of school year 2013-2014.On the basis of considering the unpredictable environmental impact,it analyzed current basic education quality to the degree of inequality through the three-dimensional framework of “investment-benefit-result”.Through the Shapley value decomposition method,it identified different environmental factors on the contribution degree of inequality of opportunity,and considered the effect of variables hard-working on education results,to analyze what extent can individual effort eliminate the unequal opportunity of education results.The main findings of the paper are as follows.Firstly,there is a large opportunity inequality in the quality of basic education in China,and the relative coefficient of inequality of opportunity in family extracurricular education expenditure,school quality and student scores are 29.25%,14.98% and 10.83%respectively.Secondly,family background differences contribute the most to the inequality of access to quality opportunities in basic education.In addition,the urban-rural dual structure is still important obstacles to equality of educational opportunities.Thirdly,the inequality of opportunities in cities is greater than that in rural areas,and the solidification of urban strata is more serious than that in rural areas.Fourthly,hardworking has a relative lower contribution to inequality.The variable of environment not only affect the results of basic education directly,but also affect the results of basic education by influencing the factors of hardworking indirectly.Based on analyzing the policy,refining and summarizing the empirical analysis results,the paper puts forward relevant policy suggestions on promoting equal opportunities in basic education,which are as follows.Firstly,reform the income distribution system to narrow the income gap of residents,to alleviate the inequal opportunities in basic education caused by the gap of family background.Secondly,increase the fiscal expenditure on basic education sequentially,and optimize its fiscal expenditure structure.Thirdly,we should reasonably determine the division of administrative and financial powers of local governments at all levels and strengthen the responsibility of fiscal expenditure at the provincial level.Fourthly,improve the transfer payment system of basic education.Fifthly,strengthen macrocontrol and improve the allocation methods of basic education resources.Sixthly,use information technology to promote equalization of basic education.Seventhly,change the talent view of "academic qualifications are the most important" and form a diversified educational evaluation system.