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What causes disparities in education access in China?
Since education financing is controlled at a local level, areas with less revenue are unable to fund quality education. An example of this would be that rural early childhood education and care in Zhejiang struggles to fund education because local governments are unable to and/or chose not to provide these funds. Lack of revenue has especially affected the migrant population, which is barred from attending public schools due to the high cost imposed upon schools. However, there are studies that have challenged the validity of this claim. More educational disparities arise between students due to financial constraints of parents. This again is particularly applicable to migrant children whose parents incomes are significantly lower because they must spend more on social services typically provided for in the Hukou system. The migration of the educated working class out of rural areas has taken away the incentive for local governments to fund education. Social discrimination against migrant students is manifested in cultural mentality and in policies that make it more difficult for these students to attend school. In Zhejiang, however, a study has shown that social discrimination is less prominent. Disparities in the distribution of funding comes from policies that favor officials own benefit rather than actually lessening the gap in education. Schools too both suffer under and form policies that damage their students educational opportunities. We have found contradicting evidence on the role of public input in determining education, with some sources claiming that disparities are exacerbated by the fact that parents often are indifferent, or uneducated enough to understand their children’s education quality, while another source demonstrates how migrant parents have played an essential role in creating educational opportunities for their children.