The Issue Of Migrant Children’s Access To Education Resources In China

Urbanization in China has brought millions of migrants and their children to migrant from rural areas to developed areas. The 2018 statistical data showed that there were 32.4 million of migrant children aged from 0 to 17 years old, amounting to 13% of the total number of children aged in the range (UNICEF, 2018). While compulsory education is mainly provided by public schools, migrant children are deprived of the right to unconditionally attend urban public school since they are not registered in their residency cities, which is to have a local hukou of the city. Due to affordability, many of the migrant children have to attend “migrant schools” that exclusively serve the needs of migrant children. However, the education quality and infrastructure in private schools is questionable. Lai et al. stated that the privately-run schools that migrant children attend are often equipped with poor facilities and full of unqualified teachers.

The large number of children who don’t have easy access to compulsory education resources hinder the steps towards the national goal of universal compulsory education in China. The lack of elementary education or education with poor quality will adversely affect migrant children’s personal growth and competitiveness in future labor market. Eventually, the society will also face negative externalities caused by the lack of education such as crime and poverty.

Barriers For Migrant Children to Access Public School

To unconditionally enter local public schools, students should meet both of the criteria: having local residence in the school district and owning a local hukou in the school district. The lack of these qualifications makes it hard for migrant children to have access to public education resources. Though applying for public school has been made possible for migrant children, there are still practical difficulties in the real-life cases.

With legal residency permit, migrant children are eligible to apply for public schools but they are also faced with discrimination and restrictions. Take Shanghai as an example, one of the largest migrant-receiving cities in China, public schools should put children with hukou at first priority, and migrant parents who have temporary residency permit shall have a 3-year registration record to be eligible to apply for public schools for their children (Shanghai Government, 2018). In Beijing, the local government requires parents to have residency permit, employment certificate, non-residence certificate of hometown, personal ID and family registration ID. Since many migrants have non-stable jobs and residencies, they often find it hard to prepare the first two documents.

According to the Compulsory Education Act revised in 2006, the local government should provide children without hukou with free and accessible resources in compulsory education. However, local government decides funding on public schools based on the number of students with hukou in the administrative units, and therefore public schools lack the incentives and resources to unconditionally accept children without hukou. Consequently, local government is unable to unconditionally fulfill the national-level initiatives and goals.

Lack of Resources and Questionable Education Quality in Private Migrant Schools

In early 1990s, migrant schools are founded by private entrepreneurs to meet the education demand of migrants. At the early stage, many of the private migrant schools have not gained approval from the government and are usually with poor education infrastructure. Statistics show that out of 519 private migrant schools operating in Shanghai in 2001, only 124 had received official approval from the local education authorities, and many have not complied with safety standards such as renting at-risk buildings. Government has therefore examined and closed some of the unlicensed schools. In recent years, though with support from the society, the conditions of private migrant schools are yet to be improved. In Minhang District of Shanghai, from 2008 to 2011, the government has invested in 185 million in 16 migrant schools to improve its school facilities. However, the total investment equaled to the investment in only one public school (Huang & Wan, 2019). The support that public school receives still outweighs that of private migrant schools.

Moreover, the education quality in migrant schools is questionable. One study in Shanghai showed that migrant children in private schools (grade 2-5) achieved lower math test scores and had a higher failure rate than migrant children in public schools. Liu el al. also found that parents in migrant schools are significantly less satisfied with schools than their counterparts in public schools. To analyze the education quality issue, it’s important to look into the conditions of teachers. Similar to many migrant workers, teachers in migrant schools are subjected to a lot of challenges such as low pay, long-working hours and even health risks (Friedman, 2017). Ensuring the teaching environment is a prerequisite to attract more qualified teachers and enhance academic performance.

Education to Migrant Children as a National-level Plan

The National Development and Reform Commission has issued the 2019 Urbanization Plan, proposing that public schools shall be open to migrant students universally and the necessity to provide sufficient education resources to major migrant-receiving areas. Attention should be paid on the issue since it’s related to the civil rights, government expenditure and national education level.

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