Research on the Equity of Educational Facilities in Counties of the Loess Plateau Gully Area: Chengcheng County, Shaanxi Province as an Example

Abstract

In this study, we construct a framework to evaluate the equity of educational facilities in counties in the Loess Plateau ravine area according to three dimensions: “equity in supply and demand”, “spatial justice”, and “equity in quality educational resources”. In this study, we use the improved MEAP model (Maximal Accessibility Equality Problem) to evaluate the equity of educational facilities in Chengcheng County, Shaanxi Province, China. The results of the study show that (1) The shortage of educational facilities in the county in terms of supply and demand gradually changes from an uneven distribution of educational facilities in terms of quantity to an uneven distribution of educational facilities in terms of quality. The demand and supply of education in the county are out of balance with the population movement in the process of rapid urbanization, and the rate of urbanization of education is higher than the rate of urbanization of the population. (2) The spatial equity of educational facilities in the county is poor, with the geographical separation caused by gullies and the uneven development between urban and rural areas being the main causes. (3) The distribution of quality educational facilities within the county is uneven, with the central city being rich in quality educational resources but having limited room for expansion of facilities. Educational facilities in the peripheral areas of the county are relatively poor. These research results provide a new perspective and evaluation framework to assess the equity of educational facilities in the county areas of the Loess Plateau gully region and to provide a decision-making basis for planning and layout of educational facilities in the county areas.