Eliminated and Merged Rules of Small-scaled Primary School in Chang-hua

• Main Authors: Chii-Ming Chiou, 邱啟銘
• Other Authors: Yuh-Jyh Yueh
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2009
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/17871829432803662341

碩士 === 立德大學 === 城鄉與資產計劃學系 === 97 === Rapid changes in society and prompt development of industry and commerce in the 21st century has resulted in imbalanced regional evolution, over-urbanization and serious loss of the rural population. In addition, the declining trend of birthrate makes the imbalance of primary schools’ supply and demand worse and worse. Consequently, the number of students enrolling in smaller, remote schools is decreasing dramatically, forcing these institutions to diminish in size. At the same time, due to weakened government finances, the Control Yuan has proposed to close down or merge these small-scaled schools which aren’t as cost efficient, in order to save on education expenditure. The merging of these smaller-scaled schools would be helpful for improving interpersonal skills and social interaction among students. Additionally, combining of school resources would not only upgrade the schools’ quality of service but also make the best use of these resources to enhance students’ learning efficiency and competitiveness. This research is, on local educational and financial point of view, examining issues surrounding the mergers and shutting down of small-scaled schools in Changhua County. The approach focuses on the various financial impacts of merging small-scaled schools, including the fixed cost, relocation cost, personnel cost, transportation cost, land conversion profit and so on. This study will establish a suggested criteria as well as a sequence plan for closing and merging schools by a means of comparative cost-benefit analysis identified through short-term (5 years), medium term (10 years), or long-term (15 years)investigations. Furthermore, the study will propose different alternatives while taking into consideration student’s safety, transportation costs, and commute time. Research reveals that, without taking transportation cost into consideration, and under the premise that classes will not increase, and regardless of short-term, medium or long-term analyses, the closer the distance between the schools to be merged, and the safer and more convenient it is to reach the school, the higher the cost-benefit. However, distance would not be the sole determinant of cost. Education is a vital and lasting journey. For the most part, closing down and merging small-scaled schools is helpful for reducing the overall expenditure of educational costs; however, there are also intangible aspects that are unaccounted for in this research, such as social loss of local customs and cultures in remote areas. When making the decision to shut down or merge schools in those areas, government authorities should have a more comprehensive and detailed review with the students’ best interest in mind and also make an effort to minimize the invisible losses to society that may result from those actions.