Addressing Barriers to Education Financing in China: A Critical Analysis and Policy Pathways
Abstract
Equitable opportunities in education across different population groups and regions in China are affected by differences in education financing, despite notable policy reforms and increase in investments. This study aimed to identify evidential barriers to education financing in China, and address the implications for educational equity and policy pathways. A scoping review was conducted and reported with the PRISMA-ScR guidelines. 20 articles were screened from academic databases, and the data was thematically analysed applying Braun and Clarke six-step framework. Five emergent themes were found from the data viz. regional fiscal disparities and funding inequities, hukou-mediated exclusion and migrant-child stratification, household education burden and private investment inequality, heterogeneous effects of policy reforms, and quality stratification across educational stages and digital access. The findings revealed that differences in funding levels were shaped by educational inequality in China, and were affected by institutional resources, access to quality educational environments, and household resources. The evidential barriers appear to be interconnected, restricting the disadvantaged learners to transform educational resources into valuable educational opportunities. In conclusion, financial reforms addressing fiscal, household, institutional and quality related barriers are required for achieving educational equity in financing. However, the heterogeneity of the studies limited the generalizability of the findings, due to which longitudinal studies are demanded in future.
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