Experts urge more funds, supportive policies

Experts recently called for the ramping up of funds and more supportive policies to enable children who have moved to cities with their migrant worker parents to access equitable, high-quality, suitable education near their temporary homes in the urban areas.

The number of migrant workers rose to 385 million in 2021, a year-on-year rise of 9 million people, according to a report released in February by the New Citizen Program, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting the welfare of migrant children.

Parents seeking better-paid opportunities as migrant workers in urban areas either have to leave their children in the countryside or bring them along to resettle in an unfamiliar place.

In 2020, the number of children from the migrant workforce was about 130 million, accounting for over 40 percent of all minors, the report said.

Among them, the number of migrant children — who moved with their parents to cities or towns — was estimated to have reached nearly 71.1 million in 2020, meaning one in every four children in the country belonged to this group, the report said, adding that they still experienced difficulties accessing basic public services.

For example, in 2021, only 61.6 percent of migrant children were enrolled in government-subsidized public kindergartens, which was 26 percentage points lower than the national average.

Moreover, nearly 50 percent of China's migrant children have to be separated from their parents during the nine-year period of free, compulsory education from ages 6 to 15.

Zhang Shouli, chairman of the 21st Century Education Research Institute, said that thanks to consistent central and local government investment in the education sector since the late 1970s, nearly all school-age children can access free compulsory education.

An upcoming key task is to address the education problems of migrant and "left-behind" children as the cross-regional movement of the labor force intensifies with the development of the economy and society, he said.

Citing data from the National Bureau of Statistics, Zhang said that about 41 percent of children age 17 and younger live in cities and towns, and their household residence — known as hukou — is registered locally, which provides them with access to relatively higher-quality education services.

However, about 35 percent of this demographic have rural household registration and live in the countryside, meaning that they have access to stable but less-advanced education services.

"A further 24 percent are migrant children who face a series of hurdles in school enrollment," Zhang said.

"Some migrant parents working and living in urban areas have decided to bring their children along with them and have to send their kids to cheaper private schools." In a signed article published in Sixth Tone, an online English-language media portal, Wei Jiayu, director-general of the New Citizen Program, said, "It is important to raise the number of public school slots and guarantee a certain number of affordable, private schools close to residential areas where migrant workers and their families tend to gather."

In addition, he said child care services and extracurricular activities should also be stepped up for migrant children living in cities.

He added that in the long run, the rule that links school placement qualification with a child's household residence permit, as stated in the Compulsory Education Law, should be adjusted to enable migrant children to enroll at schools near their current residence in towns and cities.

Lu Ming, a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and a professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University's Antai College of Economics and Management, suggested that the children of migrant workers should be eligible for enrollment at schools near their parents' workplace or residence.

In March, during this year's two sessions — the annual meetings of the National People's Congress, the top legislative body, and the CPPCC, the top advisory body — he said that more than 50 percent of China's migrant population has stable jobs and homes in towns and cities.

"A large number of migrant children who stay with their parents in urban areas have to move back to their rural hometowns due to restrictions in school enrollment and a lack of qualifications to take official academic tests," he said.

Lu said that raising the educational standards of the young migrant population could help drive China's economic development.

He added that the central and local governments should dedicate more funds and resources to make sure that the primary and middle school education system can cover all migrant children.