Recent statistics show that one-third of the provinces in China are not spending enough on education. Although the country has increased education expenditures, the amount only accounted for 3 percent of the 2006 GDP, falling short of the 4 percent target.
An article in the Beijing News says growth of government educational expenditure should be ensured.
The article says in recent years, overall economic growth has triggered fast growth in financial revenues. But the growth in educational expenditures has failed to keep pace. A main reason for this is the lack of incentives under the current financial system.
According to the current system, how local governments spend their money is largely determined by local officials. Their choices often conflict with the wishes of the public, and the officials may show little interest in spending money on education.
The article says criticizing the local officials is useless, as the fault lies with the system. Officials will naturally choose programs that can represent their political achievements, and many feel that education does not fall into this category.
The article suggested a fundamental way to solve the shortage of educational finances is to build and improve public involvement in the financial system.
The financial budgeting system determines how local governments allot resources, so a better system would lead to higher efficiency.
