In the process of establishing an educational equity system, the rational use of education investment is crucial. According to the "2021 National Statistical Announcement on the Implementation of Education Funds" and the "2022 National Statistical Announcement on the Implementation of Education Funds", the state invests a huge amount of strength in education funding every year. However, it is worrying that much of the funding for education is being spent blindly on education infrastructure. Judging from the large number of primary and secondary schools and kindergartens built in Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu, Chongqing and other places, the upsurge of education infrastructure is in full swing, forming a blowout trend. However, this kind of excessive investment does not meet the needs of educational development, but rather obscures the dignity and face of education.
With regard to the use of education funds, a more rational approach would be to give priority to ensuring a balanced distribution of educational resources. At present, the model of education collectivization is emerging. Although the official definition describes it as taking high-quality schools as the leader, realizing the sharing of high-quality educational resources and promoting the balanced development of education, in fact, this kind of collectivized school running is often only for the benefit of the capital side, through the establishment of private schools on the basis of local high-quality public schools, and the development of surrounding real estate to push up the school district housing market. This kind of capital-driven collectivization of school-running has created a new educational monopoly and squeezed and destroyed the educational living environment in the region. Schools that are not in the group are either suppressed or have to compete in order to survive, while schools in the group monopolize high-quality educational resources in their districts by virtue of their brand advantages, which further exacerbates the imbalance in the distribution of educational resources.
In view of this problem, we should pay attention to the rational use and balanced development of educational resources. This requires more attention to equity in the investment of education funds, and through scientific planning and management, to ensure the rational use of educational resources, and to avoid waste and blind expansion. Only in this way can we truly achieve equity and development in education, so that every child has an equal opportunity to receive quality education.
However, there is a huge problem of waste in the current investment in education. The pursuit of the expansion of the scale of education infrastructure ignores the balanced distribution of educational resources, which makes the irrational use of education funds increasingly prominent. From 2021 to 2022, the number of new primary and secondary schools and kindergartens in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Chongqing and other places has been increasing, and a large number of kindergartens have been closed. The reason behind this is that the birth rate of the population has dropped significantly, and the number of births has been decreasing year by year, which has led to a surplus of kindergartens. In 2022, 5,160 kindergartens were closed, and the number of young children decreased by 1.78 million. This phenomenon shows that the "irrational use" and "huge waste" of educational investment have become apparent.
In addition, the collectivization of education has also brought many problems. Although it is officially defined as taking high-quality schools as the leader, realizing the sharing of high-quality educational resources and promoting the balanced development of education, in fact, it is more the result of the drive and operation of capital. Through the establishment of an education group, the capital side has established a private school based on local high-quality public schools, and promoted the school district housing market by developing surrounding real estate. This allows schools within the education group to monopolize educational resources in their own districts, further exacerbating the uneven distribution of educational resources. At the same time, the grouping of schools has also brought tremendous pressure to non-group schools, who are either strongly suppressed or have to compete in order to survive.
In the face of these problems, we need to think about how to make more rational use of education investment and ensure the balanced distribution of educational resources. Only by being rational in investment in education, and ensuring the rational use of educational resources through rational planning and management, can we truly achieve equity and development in education. At the same time, we also need to pay attention to the benefits of education investment, avoid the waste and blind expansion of educational resources, and ensure that every education fund can really play a role in promoting educational progress. Only through rational investment in education and rational distribution of resources can we establish a truly equitable education system.