On November 30, the statistical announcement on the implementation of national education funds in 2020 issued by the Ministry of education, the National Bureau of statistics and the Ministry of Finance showed that the total investment of national education funds in 2020 was about 5.30 trillion yuan, of which the national financial education funds were about 4.29 trillion yuan, accounting for 4.22% of GDP. This is the ninth consecutive year since 2012 to achieve "no less than 4%", which also means that "no less than 4%" has been achieved during the 13th Five Year Plan period. The total investment in education reflects the importance attached to education, which is related to thousands of families. What key information does the data reveal? What trend does the data rise and fall indicate? The reporter combed this. The proportion in GDP is the highest in recent four years According to the announcement, the total investment in education in 2020 will be 5303.387 billion yuan, an increase of 5.69% over the previous year. Among them, the national financial education fund was 4290.815 billion yuan, an increase of 7.15% over the previous year and accounting for 4.22% of GDP. The total investment of national education funds is closely related to the national financial education funds. The national financial education funds exceeded 2 trillion yuan, 3 trillion yuan and 4 trillion yuan in 2012, 2016 and 2019 respectively. The national financial education fund is the major part of the total investment of national education funds. Driven by it, the total investment of national education funds also exceeded 3 trillion yuan, 4 trillion yuan and 5 trillion yuan in 2013, 2017 and 2019 respectively. 4% is a landmark data, which was put forward as a national goal and written in China's educational modernization 2035. In 2017, the opinions on deepening the reform of education system and mechanism once again made it clear that "the proportion of national financial education expenditure in GDP is generally not less than 4%". In other words, the "soft link" between the national financial education funds and the proportion in GDP ensures the bottom line of investment in education development to a certain extent. "In 2020, the proportion of national financial education funds in GDP will reach 4.22%, the highest level in recent four years, and the first three years will be 4.14%, 4.11% and 4.04% respectively." Wei Jianguo, associate researcher of China Institute of education and financial Sciences, Peking University, believes that "this strongly supports the largest education system in the world." Due to the impact of the epidemic and the complex economic situation, some education finance experts have expressed concern about whether the target of 4% can be achieved by 2020. Yang Xiaomin, associate professor of China Education Policy Research Institute of Beijing Normal University, said that under such a complex economic situation, continuing to achieve the goal of "no less than 4%" reflects the attention and great efforts of governments at all levels to education, and the priority development strategy of education has been consolidated at the level of fund guarantee ". The growth rate of various indicators per student in preschool education is the fastest According to the announcement, in 2020, the national average general public budget education funds according to the number of students in school will be 15280.54 yuan, an increase of 1.89% over 14997.44 yuan of the previous year. Among them, the national kindergarten was 9410.76 yuan, an increase of 9.23% over 8615.38 yuan last year. Ordinary primary schools were 12330.58 yuan, an increase of 3.19% over 11949.08 yuan last year. The average junior middle school was 17803.60 yuan, an increase of 2.80% over 17319.04 yuan last year. The growth rate of kindergartens in China is the highest. Similarly, the growth rate of kindergartens in China also ranked first in the growth of general public budget education expenditure and public expenditure of education students at all levels, with an increase of 9.65% and 12.49% respectively over the previous year, much higher than that of other types of education. "At present, the fund guarantee mechanism for compulsory education and higher education is relatively perfect. After years of development, the fund investment in these two fields has reached a high level in both relative and absolute values," Yang Xiaomin said frankly, "In contrast, affected by the organization system and management system, the development and corresponding investment of preschool education has been relatively weak. With the implementation of the national population strategy and the three child policy, it is bound to further increase the investment in preschool education and give full play to the important supporting role of public financial investment." The three average student indicators in Colleges and universities decreased systematically Since 2018, the national statistical announcement on the implementation of education funds has counted the growth of "education funds", "education expenditure" and "public expenditure" in the general public budget of education students at all levels. So far, only ordinary colleges and universities in China have shown a simultaneous decrease in these three indicators in 2020. Specifically, the national average public budget education expenditure for college students was 22407.39 yuan, a decrease of 4.65% over 23501.26 yuan last year, the national average public budget education expenditure for college students was 20919.17 yuan, a decrease of 5.29% over 22086.86 yuan last year, and the national average public budget public expenditure for college students was 8119.51 yuan, a decrease of 11.56% over 9180.87 yuan last year %。 "In 2019, the gross enrollment rate of higher education in China will reach 51.6%, and in 2020, it will further increase to 54.4%. China's higher education has entered the stage of popularization. Under this background, colleges and universities have systematically reduced these three indicators, which is worthy of high attention." Wei Jianguo introduced that, for comparison, in the period of higher education popularization in developed countries such as the United States, Britain and Australia, although the proportion of public investment in higher education investment is decreasing, in absolute terms, both public investment and private investment are increasing together. Wei Jianguo suggested: "for China's higher education entering the popularization stage, a similar fund investment strategy should be adopted. The national financial and non-financial funds should go hand in hand and increase together, so as to support a high-quality popularization higher education system." Optimize sources through multiple channels and give play to the driving role of financial funds Novel coronavirus pneumonia is a reflection of the changes in educational expenditure data, reflecting the demand for education at various stages of development and the impact of changes in fiscal revenue. "Professor Qin Yuyou of Northeast Normal University believes that with the weakening of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, recurrent fiscal revenue will become normal growth, and education funds at all levels will have more room for growth. Qin Yuyou predicted that from the perspective of trend, the number of schools and students in preschool education and ordinary high school education with orderly growth in scale are increasing, the national financial education funds per student will maintain a high growth, and the growth of education funds in the stage of compulsory education to complete the popularization task will slow down. For ordinary colleges and universities with the highest level of national financial education funds, the investment will increase It will be more sensitive to the impact of changes in recurrent fiscal revenue, and there will be more room for adjustment. The "no less than 4% target" has been achieved, but the allocation proportion of education funds in all kinds of education is unbalanced, the investment structure of hardware and software is unreasonable, and there is a gap between urban and rural areas. In the "post-4% era" in which the target has been achieved for nine consecutive years, more attention has been paid to the structural optimization of education funds. "In general, we should focus on the improvement of educational software and soft power, and on the funding guarantee for the connotation construction of schools with teachers as the key. We should not only ensure the basic and make up for weaknesses, but also strengthen the focus on efficiency, further increase the investment in preschool education, and continue to increase the funding guarantee for rural education in underdeveloped areas." Yang Xiaomin said that at the same time, to meet the needs of the implementation of major national strategies such as innovation driven and regional coordinated development, the investment of funds should be inclined to the talent training in important fields and joint links of national basic research and scientific and technological innovation. From the perspective of the sources and channels of education investment, the relative quantity, scale and proportion of social forces other than public financial investment in education investment are very small. In this regard, Yang Xiaomin suggested, "In the future, the investment of education funds should be optimized through multiple channels, give full play to the guidance of financial funds, drive social capital and private capital to support the development of education, and form a joint force between the government and society in the investment of education funds." (outlook new era)