This book examines how educational change has progressed in three
contrasting areas spread across China since 1990, exploring key issues
concerning rural education in poor, rich and minority areas. Of the
three areas covered in this book, the first is a rich one near Beijing;
the second is in the northwest in Shanxi on the Loess plateau; and the
third is in Sichuan on the high plateau leading to Tibet. Central issues
include the impact of large-scale demographic change and migration, with
increasing numbers of left-behind children in sending areas, and large
increases in the numbers of inbound migrants in receiving areas;
dramatic increases in the boarding of children in rural areas as a
result of rural school merge; changing patterns of teacher deployment;
recentralization of responsibilities for school financing; and growing
concerns regarding horizontal and vertical inequalities in both access
and participation.