中国の義務教育段階における農村教員の流出に関する研究

In recent years, many discussions of the rural–urban education gap have emphasized the importance of quality assurance in rural areas of China. Many critics have observed that the teacher outflow issue is a serious factor widening the gap. Although teachers’ working conditions in rural areas has improved following the implementation of several central and local government policies, the teacher outflow problem is still present in many rural areas. This study discusses this problem experienced by many Chinese rural communities. Three key findings were obtained. First, a general one-way flow was observed, as younger and more capable teachers hope to leave rural areas for the cities, which hinders the development of rural education and widens the rural–urban education gap. Second, the teacher outflow still happens for a variety of reasons. For example, although the cost of education in rural areas is increasing, the available money for education does not always spread to all rural areas. Many rural areas still lack adequate funds due to their huge size. Therefore, rural community teachers are poorly paid compared with teachers in the cities. These teachers are overworked every day and have fewer opportunities to attend teacher training. In addition, rural teachers’ standard of living is more severe than that for teachers in urban areas. Third, these problems may be addressed through some solutions. For example, the central government should provide greater educational funds to rural areas and the fiscal expenditure between the central and local governments should be more rational. In addition, it is necessary to give rural teachers more opportunities to attend training to improve their skills.