The increasingly long road to school in rural China: the impacts of education network consolidation on broadly defined schooling distance in Xinfeng County of rural China

Abstract

In the early 2000s, China's Ministry of Education embarked on a program of school mapping restructure (SMR) that involved closing small rural schools and opening up larger centralized schools in towns and county seats.The stated aim of the policy was to improve educational resources and raise the human capital of rural students. Any progress that may have been achieved along these dimensions comes at a price, namely that many children lost the opportunity to learn in their own village schools. This study aims to understand the impact of SMR on the distance rural children are from schooling, in terms of physical, temporal and social measures. A particular focus rests on differential impact by child and family characteristics including socioeconomic status. The data are drawn from a combination of questionnaires, interviews and document analysis, collected in a rural mountainous area, specifically Xinfeng County in Guangdong Province located in the south of China. The authors analyze these data using geographical information systems, regression and classification tree analysis to estimate increased distance and travel time for students affected by SMR, in the context of an analysis of boarding versus commuting decisions and the choice of transportation mode by economic status. This study finds that, the physical distance increased by an average of about 8.3 miles through SMR, but through the increased tendency to board, the effect on average weekly travel distance was neutral; the average travel time increased by around 75 min for those students affected by SMR; even for children more likely to be boarding, the average increase in weekly travel time was estimated at over 2 h, specifically 130 min; social distance increased also; as students were moved from a tightly-knit community school to a somewhat more anonymous institution, this deterioration affected students who were previously ''privileged'' in this particular respect, and they are not at a disadvantage relative to their peers at their new school. In addition, the study uncovers nuanced effects of SMR on school travel behavior and calls into question that some behavioral assumptions implicit in the planning process. Policy implications of these findings are discussed, with specific reference to China's current initiative of ''balanced development'' in the education sector.

Fewer, better pathways for all? Intersectional impacts of rural school consolidation in China’s minority regions

“…Cai, Chen, and Zhu (2017) found that the compulsory school consolidation program increased educational expenditures, including expenditures on transportation and boarding due to greater distance to school. Zhao and Barakat (2015) found that children from poorer families had difficulties paying for a bus or boarding at school and are more likely to endure longer commutes. Other studies suggest that some poor rural families might be more likely to shoulder costs for boys than girls: research in China suggests that girls' educational attainment has been more susceptible than boys' to poverty (Cherng and Hannum 2013;Liu and Hannum 2017).…”

Regional and rural school consolidation: a scoping study of research literature

“…There are a number of examples of financial analysis of changes in costs of schooling post reform (e.g. Pennsylvania School Board Association, 2009; Cooley and Floyd, 2013; Cox and Cox, 2010; Gordon and Knight, 2008; Killeen and Sipple, 2000; Qingyang, 2013; Zhao and Barakat, 2015). Cooley and Floyd (2013) studied 20 consolidated districts in Texas (USA) and found that post-consolidation there was no financial saving on a per-pupil basis (when compared with non-consolidated schools).…”

“…The more hidden cost is, however, for students who experience increased travel times (Qingyang, 2013). Zhao and Barakat (2015) calculated from their analysis of rural school consolidation that the addition travel time can be up to 130 min per week based on their study of 986 students in a province in China. The average travel time increase was 75 min per week.…”

“…Increase in travel costs, both fiscal and time, is arguably a key factor in rural school consolidation leading to increased rates of dropout (Haibo, 2013). For individual students, specifically rural and remote, they often move from a tight-knit community to a much larger school where they are almost anonymous (Zhao and Barakat, 2015). In the Dutch context, De Haan et al (2016) identified a small positive effect (in student achievement outcomes) associated with an increase to the minimum school size (from 62 to 101 – reducing the total number of primary schools by 15 per cent), although this is still well below Conant’s (1959) suggested minimum of 400.…”

Influences of the Built Environment on Rural School Children’s Travel Mode Choice: The Case of Chengdu

“…In this process of merging, elementary schools in poor mountainous areas are the most heavily and profoundly affected, resulting in greater distance to schools for many rural students and a small number of urban students. Many children have lost the opportunity to study in their rural schools [ 5 ]. The school mapping restructure plan has brought great inconvenience to rural children and parents.…”