因居住於偏遠地區所形成的「地域弱勢」，乃是我國憲法例示的弱勢者類別之一；其因此所形成的教育弱勢者地位，亦為學術論述上所普遍肯認。近年來，隨著臺灣教育相關法制之發展，地域弱勢的法制建構方向已然漸趨明確，然相對於《離島建設條例》與《花東地區發展條例》在標的上之明確界定方式，多數教育法規則仍採取相對抽象且未予以定義的「偏遠或特殊地區」一詞，此實不利於偏遠地區教育政策之規劃與法制保障之發展。此外，就臺灣現行偏遠地區教育法制在經費補助、人事制度、組織編制與升學優待等四個面向而論，基本上雖尚稱符合平等原則之公平、正義法律意涵；惟在促進教育機會均等及人才發展等相關作用上，則仍有待政策之全面關照並戮力於法制之具體建構。

Geographically disadvantaged due to living in the rural area is one of the disadvantaged groups as defined in the Constitution of the Republic of China. As a result, their status as educationally disadvantaged is also widely recognized in academic discourse. In recent years, along with the development of the educational law, the direction of constructing a legal system related to geographically disadvantaged has become definite. Yet, in contrast to the clear definition in Offshore Islands Development Act and Hualien and Taitung Area Development Act, most educational law still adopts the relatively abstract and undefined term “rural or special area,” which is actually disadvantageous to the planning and legal development of education in rural areas. Additionally, although the current educational law regarding rural areas, in terms of budget, personnel, organization and favor for those pursuing further studies, meets the principle of equality in law such as fairness and justice, it still takes the making of policies to construct a concrete legal system in order to promote equal opportunities in education and talent development.