Leadership Role in Addressing Practical Challenges in Rural Primary Schools in China

Abstract

In the context of globalisation, this article critically examines the role and limitations of rural primary school principals in responding to practical challenges and promoting educational equity. As educational digitalisation and equitable access to quality education become global concerns, urban-rural educational inequality in China provides an important context for examining rural school leadership. Based on a systematic review of recent Chinese- and English-language research on urban-rural educational inequality, teacher retention, educational digitalisation, infrastructure, and resource allocation, the article analyses the main challenges faced by rural primary schools and their implications for school leadership practices. It argues that rural principals can support school improvement through distributed leadership, community participation, and local resource mobilisation, thereby partly addressing limited teacher support, digital resource inequality, and policy implementation pressures. However, leadership effectiveness remains constrained by institutional conditions, local governance capacity, and unequal resource allocation. Rural principals act primarily as coordinators and mediators between policy requirements and school realities rather than "heroic" changemakers. The article concludes that achieving equity in rural education in China requires not only principals' efforts but also more stable institutional support, fairer resource allocation, and long-term policy commitment to rural schools.