Browse > Article
http://dx.doi.org/10.5389/KSAE.2020.62.1.029

Evaluating Educational Fairness of Commuting Distances for Rural Villages following the Closing of Elementary Schools  

Kim, Solhee (Interdisciplinary Program in Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, Seoul National University)
Jeon, Jeongbae (Spatial Information Research Institute, Korea Land and Geospatial Informatix Corporation)
Suh, Kyo (Dept. of International Agricultural Technology, Graduate School of International Agricultural Technology, Seoul National University, Institute of Green Bio Science & Technology, Seoul National University)
Publication Information
Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers / v.62, no.1, 2020 , pp. 29-38 More about this Journal
Abstract
Although educational facilities are important considerations from a social equity standpoint, the educational environment generally found in rural areas has been continuously deteriorated due to numerous social problems following birth rate declines and school abolition numbers. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the commuting accessibility changed by the abolition of elementary schools. The village-level accessibility is assessed following physical accessibility criteria based on legally defined commuting distances. Moreover, this study shows the implications of commuting accessibility by school district zones through comparing the minimum commuting distances with real commuting distance. The target area is the Gangwon state, the coverage area in which for schools is the widest in South Korea (44.1 ㎢/school). We evaluated the commuting distances to the nearest elementary school for 992 rural villages and 74 urban villages. Of the 1,066 villages in urban and rural areas evaluated, most of the villages (about 77%) are exposed to commutes to elementary schools were the marginal distance is over 1,000 meters. The annual rate of increase of commuting distance for 1,066 villages in Gangwon state has steadily increased by 2.8%p since 2000, average commuting distance from 2.8 km to 3.6 km. By the designation of the school districts, elementary school students have to go to a faraway school located within administrative district, even though there is a school nearby. It is expected that the results of this study will be made use of as basic data for the establishment of policies such as a reasonable basis for closing schools measurements considering the locally unique environment.
Keywords
Elementary school; educational equity; accessibility; school abolition; village; school district;
Citations & Related Records
Times Cited By KSCI : 5  (Citation Analysis)
연도 인용수 순위
1 Cho, C., and H. Lee, 2015. A study on the comparison analysis about the pre to post educational environment of the integrated small schools in rural area. Journal of Educational Facilities 22(6): 3-11 (in Korean). doi: 10.7859/kief.2015.22.6.003.
2 Choi, E., 2007. The differentiation of education environment by region. Journal of Korean Association of Space & Environment Research 27: 150-171 (in Korean). doi: G704-002076.2007.27.003.
3 Choi, J., 2008. An analysis on educational policy for rural small schools. Local Education Management 23(2): 55-76 (in Korean).
4 Jang, S., 2004. Differences in educational conditions between regions and measures to improve the operation of local education finance for improvement of educational conditions.
5 Jeong, C., 2002. A study on the educational exchange programs between urban-rural elementary schools. Community Development Review 28(2): 19-34 (in Korean).
6 Jeong, M., 2014. Analysis of the causes of conflict in a non-consistent for policy of small rural school. Korean Journal for the Conflict Management Studies 1(1): 183-199 (in Korean).
7 Kim, S., T. Kim, and K. Suh, 2015. Assessment of accessibility to medical facilities in rural areas using real road distance focusing on Pyeongchang-gun. Journal of the Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers 57(4): 39-49 (in Korean). doi:10.5389/KSAE.2015.57.4.039.   DOI
8 Kim, S., T. Kim, and K. Suh, 2016. Assessment of the Implication of Accessibility to Community Facilities for Land Price in Rural Areas using a Hedonic Land Price Model. Journal of Korean Society of Rural Planning 22(1): 93-100 (in Korean). doi:10.7851/ksrp.2016.22.1.093.   DOI
9 Ko, Y., and Y. Oh, 2018. A study on integrated operation of school bus in suburbs. Journal of Korean Society for Quality Management, 46(4): 899-910 (in Korean). doi: 10.7469/JKSQM.2018.46.4.899.   DOI
10 Korean Educational Development Institute, 2014. Standards and methods of educational environment evaluation, Korean Educational Development Institute.
11 Kwon, O., 2016. Policy and response to the consolidation of small schools, Chuncheon: Gangwon Development Institute, Policy Memo 2016(3), 2016.06.17.
12 Lee, D., and J. Lee, 2008. A study on students admission plan that results caused by the school facility differentials between newly opened schools and established ones. Korean Journal of Teacher Education 24(4): 17-35 (in Korean).
13 Lee, D., 2012. A study on the spatial inequality of educational opportunity in an urban area: Focusing on the opportunity to learn English by school native English instructors. Journal of Korean Association of Space & Environment Research 22(1): 81-113 (in Korean).
14 Ministry of Education, 2017. Current School Status, School Alimi. Available at: http://www.schoolinfo.go.kr/ Accessed 4 Oct. 2019.
15 Lee, H., J. Choi, J. Kim, and C. Kim, 2011a. A study on the restructuring strategies of the education sector against the decrease of the school age. Korean Educational Development Institute (in Korean).
16 Lee, H., and J. Dong, 2011b. A study on the student walking distance for efficient new school arrangement in urban housing site. Journal of the Architectural Institute of Korea Planning & Design 27(6): 77-84 (in Korean).
17 Lin, J., Y. Huang, and C. Ho, 2014. School accessibility and academic achievement in a Rural Area of Taiwan. Children's Geographies 12(2): 232-248. doi:10.1080/14733285.2013.812308.   DOI
18 Ma, S., 2010. The actual conditions of utilization of closed school and policy tasks in rural areas, Research Policy Report P134.
19 Min, B., and H. Hong, 2011. A study on the optimal size of school and class for effective curricular implementation. Asian Journal of Education 12(2): 1-24.
20 Oh, S., and D. Kim, 2017. Analysis of curriculum satisfaction of small-sized school consolidation: Focusing on the elementary school in Ulsan province. The Korea Educational Review 23(2): 55-76 (in Korean).
21 Ryu, B., K. Kim, G. Kim, D. Kim, G. Nam, and J. Lee, 2018. Exploring the direction of education policy in the age of population barriers-Focused on the decreasing population and decreasing number of students in local areas-. Korean Educational Development Institute. 2018.05.
22 Seo, H., 2017. The effect of the elementary school closure on the rural community, Doctoral Dissertation, Seoul National University, Seoul.
23 Statistics Korea, 2017. Population Census, Korean Statistical Information Service, Available at: http://kosis.kr/ Accessed 1 Oct. 2019.
24 Jeong, D., J. Hong, Y. Ji, and H. Lee, 2011. A comparative analysis of inter-school equity in public school resources across 16 metropolitan and provincial offices of education. The Journal of Educational Administration 29(4): 275-295 (in Korean).