If the doubts and complaints surrounding the collapsed school buildings in the May 12 earthquake revealed the tip of an iceberg, the National Audit Office's (NAO) latest report confirms the popular belief that inadequate financial guarantees for rural compulsory education are far from a regional phenomenon.

The NAO audit report on the operation of the newly installed financial support mechanisms for compulsory education in the countryside, which incorporates contributions from central and local coffers, exposes widespread defaults at local levels.

Some local governments failed to contribute their due share to match funds from the central government. Some counties have reduced their input after the central and the provincial government increased theirs.

While failing to honor their own financial commitments, a number of local governments, from provincial to the county levels, have even withheld central government allocations for rural compulsory education.

Worse, the already tight money supply was found vulnerable to misuse.

Management of fund use "is weak in some areas", says the report. But the "some" here does not mean a small number. Misappropriation of such specially earmarked money, according to the report, is "common". Forty-six of the 54 counties surveyed were found doing that. In extreme cases, such special funds ended up filling the pockets of individuals.

Insufficiency has been an outstanding bottleneck in the development of basic education throughout China. Though the national authorities have vowed and acted to boost financial support in recent years, the overall picture has hardly changed much. Given the limited supply and the ever-rising demand, there will continue to be a gap between them.

The latest scheme of central and local authorities sharing the burden is a practical approach to making the load affordable, and meeting the most essential needs of compulsory education in rural areas. Any party's failure to fulfill its financial commitment will be felt dearly in classrooms.

If local governments do have difficulty honoring their financial obligations, there is a need for more expansive scrutiny of the local spending pattern. If they lack money for schools, we need to see the same degree of austerity in other aspects.

But in reality, financial competence does not appear to be as heavy as it is claimed to be.

Otherwise, local officials should try to make the most out of what is currently available and make sure local schools do not suffer.

The sad truth is many local governments would divert education funds for other uses, though few of them would say education is not important.

The most lamentable part of such stories is that public officials do not seem to have a sense of shame until they are caught and their malpractice is brought to light.

(China Daily July 7, 2008)