On the Solution to Education Burden Reduction: An Analysis Based on the Signal Theory

Reducing the burden of education is a major issue of concern in both practical and theoretical circles at present. The signal theory is applied to the formation and governance logic of educational burden, and an analytical framework of " labor market screening-education system shaping-individual rational behavior" is proposed, arguing that educational burden is the result of a combination of factors. The labor market uses the individual's educational attainment as a proxy signal for the individual's ability, which is transmitted to the school field through an education system with a differentiated equity-efficiency mix, and the individual makes a corresponding rational behavioral choice after recognizing the signal. In recent years, the government-led education load reduction has focused on education policy and school management but has been ineffective. For a systematic solution, education burden reduction requires comprehensive management of the education burden formation mechanism, encouraging the leading role of the government and the pluralistic participation of the labor market and social forces, forming a pluralistic evaluation of the job market, improving the education system that adapts to development, and cultivating a mature and humble civil society.