A Study on the Urban-Rural Disparity in Educational Resource Allocation for Primary and Secondary Schools

Allocation of educational resources affects the learning environment and equality of opportunity for students. Frontline teachers' views on the urban-rural disparity in educational resources for Chinese primary and secondary schools are investigated in this study. An exploratory comparative design was used, and based on questionnaire responses from 26 teachers, six were from urban schools and twenty were from rural or township schools. Teacher staffing and qualifications, school facilities, digital resources, curriculum implementation, professional development, family cooperation, funding and policy execution were also analysed. Therefore, the deficiencies in urban and rural areas cannot be confined to primary and secondary school facilities. Rural teachers reported more restrictions in specialist staffing, professional development, curriculum provision, digital resources, family support and the actual implementation of educational balancing policies. Teachers in both groups also listed the recruitment, training and retention of teachers as problems. Therefore, in addition to the supply of resources, schools need to have the ability to use and maintain these resources effectively for educational equity. Due to the small and unequal sample and the reliance on self-reported data, the findings should be interpreted as exploratory. Future research should use larger samples and combine teacher perspectives with student, school, and longitudinal data to further examine how resource allocation affects educational opportunities.