Equality more crucial

Shi Yanping (West China Metropolis Daily): Public schools are important places for children to realize the right to education, but the reality nowadays is: While some places are able to build up schools equipped with advanced facilities, in other areas, schools even do not have enough desks and stools for students. The extremely uneven distribution of educational resources is brought into the spotlight by the building of this "most luxurious primary school" in Suzhou.

In the compulsory education system, absolute equality for every student in public schools is still impossible, but the gap in educational resources distribution should not be as large as this. Extremely unequal distribution of educational resources has made the right to education, which is supposed to be equally enjoyed by every child in this country, unfair. While some children enjoy a lot of good educational resources, others have no access to basic educational resources, simply because of the differences in their family conditions and birthplaces. In the face of this unfair reality, students begin to feel a social gap at very early ages.

To improve teaching facilities is all right, but excessive luxury in a public school is going too far. If this school had not been so luxurious, a lot of money could have been saved to build several other schools for migrant workers' children and to help underdeveloped areas with their education.

Yangchenghu Primary School doesn't reflect the truth of China's national education level, but schools in economically underdeveloped areas and schools for migrant workers' children tell the truth of present conditions of China's overall education level. Such uneven distribution actually implies social inequality on the whole.

Meng Chu (www.dbw.cn): We have to admit, due to different economic development levels, regions will differ from each other in their educational investment. For example, Suzhou is an economically developed city, so it can afford to build well-equipped primary schools. But we must note even these developed areas' revenues are limited. If too much is spent on facilities of local schools, investment in other programs will surely decline. No matter how rich one is, it's unacceptable to misuse the money.

Against the background of extremely insufficient investment in education, a local government that spends a lot of money on education will easily win a good reputation. Knowing this, some local governments focus investment on one school while neglecting balanced development of local education. This has already become a bad tendency.

The Outline of China's National Plan for Medium- and Long-Term Education Reform and Development proposes, by 2012, China's education expenditure will reach 4 percent of the country's GDP. But what is more important than higher investment is how to evenly distribute educational resources.

This "luxurious school" is to an extent a reminder to decision-makers. Since the eastern regions are so wealthy, why not let them share some of their big cake with underdeveloped western regions?

Ma Shenglong (China Ethnic News): In some economically developed regions, local governments are rich enough to afford the building of well-equipped schools. But do students and teachers really need a ground source heat pump system? Is it really necessary to install elevators in buildings of only three floors? Does every classroom really need its own lavatory? If even the teachers don't know how to use some of the advanced facilities, aren't these facilities a waste of money?

High-end hardware alone is not enough to support strong education. A doctor's technique will surely decline if he depends too much on medical facilities. This is the same with schools. These luxurious facilities at most open students' minds, but will not surely help to improve the school's quality of education. Many prestigious schools have achieved fame not from its good facilities, but by excellent teachers and advanced educational concepts.