Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Education Issues of the Children of Internal Migrant Workers in China

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Second International Handbook of Urban Education

Part of the book series: Springer International Handbooks of Education ((SIHE))

Abstract

The education issues of rural migrant children in China have been a public focus since mid-1990s. Due to the restrictions of their Household Registration status, the migrant children have often been rejected by the public schools in the cities, provoking the public questioning about school access and assurance of education equality in China for these children. Until now, rural migrant students face unequal treatment in the urban public school system, and the education problems of migrant children have not been well resolved. This chapter uncovers the major obstacles that the rural migrant students face regarding their schooling in the residential cities.

By reviewing major laws and policies regarding the schooling of the children of rural migrants from 1985 to 2010, this chapter aims to provide readers a comprehensive examination on the development of the governmental solutions to the educational issues of the rural migrant children. In addition, it also introduces the historical background of the education issues of the rural migrant children, their school choices in the cities, as well as the discrimination that they face in the College Entrance Exam and college admission.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 469.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 599.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 599.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Beijing Municipal Government. (2015). Education Commission’s suggestions to the school admission for the students of compulsory education stage of the Fang Shan District Beijing city of 2015 (北京市房山区教育委员会关于 2015年义务教育阶段入学工作的意见). Retrieved from http://zhengwu.beijing.gov.cn/gzdt/gggs/t1388805.htm

  • Beijing Youth Newspaper. (2012). The whereabouts of the migrant children after their schools were closed (北京农民工子弟学校关停之后学生去向). 10 August. Online. Retrieved from http://edu.people.com.cn/GB/216982/17075861.html. Accessed 2 Feb 2014.

  • Bi, Y. H., & Szente, J. (2010). Education of young Chinese migrant children: Challenges and prospects. Early Childhood Education Journal, 37, 477–482.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • China Economy. (2012). People criticize the threshold for the migrant children to attend college entrance exam in their residential cities (异地高考准入条件引热议). Retrieved from http://views.ce.cn/view/ent/201209/07/t20120907_23658584.shtml

  • China Education Online. (2012). The specifications for the migrant children siting for the National College Entrance Exam (Gaokao) in the place where they reside: Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong have the highest requirements (全国各省市异地高考方案细则 北上广门槛高). Retrieved from http://gaokao.eol.cn/kuai_xun_3075/20121231/t20121231_887965.shtml. Accessed 27 Mar 2014.

  • China News Network. (2013). 17 provinces announced the yearly average income of the residents: Beijing residents’ average income is 36,469 yuan per year (17省份剬布去年居民收入: 北京人均收入36469元). Retrieved from http://news.qq.com/a/20130125/000303.htm

  • Chinese Government. (2006). The Central Government’s suggestions on solving the multiple issues of migrant workers (国务院关于解决农民工问题的若干意见). Retrieved from http://www.gov.cn/jrzg/2006-03/27/content_237644.htm

  • Chinese Government. (2010). The national long-term plan for the education reform and development 2010–2020 (国家中长期教育改革和发展规划纲要 2010-2020). Retrieved from http://www.gov.cn/jrzg/2010-07/29/content_1667143.htm

  • College Review. (2014). The history of historically black colleges and universities. Accessed from http://www.collegeview.com/articles/article/the-history-of-historically-black-colleges-and-universities. Accessed 27 Mar 2014.

  • Cui, C. Y. (2003). Removing the discriminations towards the migrant children attending schools (破除对进城农民工子女的就学歧视). Retrieved from http://www.china.com.cn/chinese/zhuanti/mingong/349845.htm. Accessed 3 Feb 2014.

  • Du, K. W. (2014). 30 provinces and municipal cities solved the problem of college entrance exam for the migrant children in the cities in 2014 (2014年30个省区市解决随迁子女异地高考). Retrieved from http://gb.cri.cn/42071/2014/02/20/5951s4431488.htm. Accessed 22 Mar 2014.

  • Fu, Y. (2011). Education as a means of integration into the city: Migrant children in the government-sponsored honghua school in Chengdu, China. (Order No. 3492791, School of Intercultural Studies, Biola University). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, 242. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/920664469?accountid=14244. (920664469).

  • Goodburn, C. (2009). Learning from migrant education: A case study of the schooling of rural migrant children in Beijing. International Journal of Educational Development, 29, 495–504.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ji Nan Shi Bao (2012). The college entrance exam takers of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou enjoy the best resources and advantages in college admission (媒体称北上广等高考洼地占尽资源和录取优势) Accessed from http://edu.ifeng.com/gaokao/news/detail_2012_12/11/20041755_0.shtml

  • Kunming Daily. (2014). Don’t put migrant children in a separate classroom (别给农民工子女单独编班). Retrieved from http://roll.sohu.com/20140309/n396275451.shtml. Accessed 15 Mar 2014.

  • Kwong, J. (2004). Research report: Education migrant children: Negotiations between the state and civil society. The China Quarterly, 180, 1073–1088.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kwong, J. (2011). Education and identity: The marginalization of migrant youths in Beijing. Journal of Youth Studies, 14(8), 871–883.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li, Y. (2010). Progress in education for the children of rural migrant workers. In Yang Dong Ping & Chai Chun Qing (Eds.), The China education year book 2010 (Vol. 2) (pp. 175–187). Leiden: Boston Publishing Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Li, P. (2013). A review of household registration system reform in the past 50 years, changes of the household management policy in new China (户籍改革50年回眸,新中国户籍管理制度的变迁). Online. Retrieved from http://news.ifeng.com/history/zhongguoxiandaishi/special/dxpsd1/detail_2013_01/18/21346278_1.shtml. Accessed at: 3 Feb 2014.

  • Liang, Z., & Chen, Y. P. (2007). The educational consequences of migration for children in China. Social Science Research, 36, 28–47.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lu, Y., & Zhou, H. (2013). Academic achievement and loneliness of migrant children in China: School segregation and segmented assimilation. Comparative Education Review, 57(1), 85–116.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lv, S. Q. (2007). Left behind or migration: An empirical study on children of rural migrants (留守还是流动:民工潮中的儿童研究). Beijing: China Agriculture Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Modern Education Newspaper. (2012). Can we reconcile the interests of the two types of students? Making migrant children take college entrance exam in their residential cities (叩问随迁高考之路:两类考生利益能否兼顾). Retrieved from http://edu.people.com.cn/GB/116076/17440287.html

  • Mok, K. H., Kwong, Y. C., & Guo, Y. (2011). Transforming from economic power to soft power: Challenges for managing education for migrant workers’ children and human capital in Chinese cities. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 31(3), 325–344.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Montgomery, J. L. (2012). The inheritance of inequality: Hukou and related barriers to compulsory education for China’s migrant children. Pacific Rim Law & Policy Journal, 21(3), 591.

    Google Scholar 

  • National Bureau of Statistics of the People’s Republic of China. (2014). An investigation report of the national migrant workers of 2013 (2013 年全国农民工监测调查报告). Retrieved from http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/zxfb/201405/t20140512_551585.html

  • National Bureau of Statistics of the People’s Republic of China. (2015a). China’s urbanization rate has reached 54.77 % in 2014(2014年中国城镇化率达到54.77 %). Retrieved from http://politics.people.com.cn/n/2015/0120/c70731-26417968.html

  • National Bureau of Statistics of the People’s Republic of China. (2015b). A report of nationwide migrant workers of 2014 (2014年农民工监测调查报告). Retrieved from http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/zxfb/201504/t20150429_797821.html

  • OECD. (2013). OECD economic surveys: China 2015. Paris: OECD publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Qiao, Y. Z. & Gong, J. Q. (2014). The forming, consolidating and alleviating of dual structure of China’s urban and rural area (我国城乡二元结构的生成, 固化与缓解). Retrieved from http://www.cssn.cn/shx/201412/t20141216_1444674.shtml

  • SCAU, College of Public Management. (2011). The changes of migrant children education (农民工子女义务教育政策文本的演变). Retrieved from http://xy.scau.edu.cn/gongguan/ggzc/Article/zcwk/201103/2.html

  • Wang, F. (2013). Characteristics and prospect of China’s urbanization development. Access from http://iussp.org/sites/default/files/event_call_for_papers/Characteristics%20and%20Prospect%20of%20China's%20Urbanization%20Development--Wang%20Fang_0.pdf

  • Wang, L., & Holland, T. (2011). In searching of education equity for the migrant children of Shanghai. Comparative Education, 47(4), 471–487.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu, L. (2004). A research on the urbanization of China from 1978 to 2000. Retrieved from http://www.ce.cn/ztpd/xwzt/guonei/2004/jdzg/kfgh/jdyk/200406/25/t20040625_1151554.shtml

  • Xia, C. L. (2006). Migrant children and the right to compulsory education in China. Asia-Pacific Journal on Human Rights and the Law, 2, 29–74.

    Google Scholar 

  • Xiao, Y. (2011). The education of migrant workers’ children in china: Lived inequities and policies. (Order No. MR81791, University of Calgary (Canada)). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, 243. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/920012513?accountid=14244. (920012513).

  • Xinhua News Agency. (2014). 30 provinces and municipal cities solved the problem of College entrance exam for the migrant children in the cities in 2014 (2014年30个省区市解决随迁子女异地高考). Retrieved from http://gb.cri.cn/42071/2014/02/20/5951s4431488.htm. Accessed 22 Mar 2014.

  • Xiong, Y. H., & Yang, X. G. (2012). The influences of school types on the migrant children’s world view and their ways of behaving: based on the field-work study in Shanghai (学校类型对农民工子女价值观与行为方式的影响:基于上海的实证研究). Youth Research (青年研究), 1, 71–96. Retrieved from http://www.sirpa.fudan.edu.cn/picture/article/56/98/ed/6111b7b047da8ed85bccfce13af1/f1a615fe-e041-4192-ad63-58ab01fc3cc1.pdf

  • Yang, Z. L. (2015). How to guarantee the compulsory education for the migrant children: An analysis to multiple models of solutions of the education issues of the migrant children (如何保障农民工子女的义务教育: 几种解决农民工教育问题的模式比较). Retrieved from http://biweekly.hr ichina.org/article/1197

  • Ye, L. (2012). Why should not solely stress on the benefits of the Beijing and Shanghai College entrance examination takers in order to solve the problem of college entrance examination migrants (解决异地高考不能偏袒京沪考生的权益). Retrieved from http://edu.163.com/special/njd28/. Accessed 27 Mar 2014.

  • Yiu, L. (2014). Access and equity for rural migrant in Shanghai. Accessed from 2014 AERA annual conference. Accessed 4 Apr 2014.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yuan, L. S. (2010). An analysis to the governmental financial policy for the compulsory education of the migrant children (农民工子女义务教育经费负担政策分析). Retrieved from http://neibu.nies.net.cn/snxx/wenxian/snxx_20101126093456_11074.html

  • Yuan, G. R. (2012). The migrant students must meet 3 requirements in order to be able to sit for the college entrance exam in their destination cities (异地高考设3大准入条件). Retrieved from http://news.sohu.com/20120906/n352522366.shtml

  • Zhou, Z. (2015). Inspections to the nonnative Beijing school-age children on their school admission: they need to collect 28 certificates in order to get a change to receive the first-round schooling qualification inspection (非京籍学龄儿童入学审查:办齐28个证件才有接受初审的资格). Retrieved from http://www.rmzxb.com.cn/sqmy/nywy/2015/05/18/501305.shtml

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Education, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Shizhan Yuan, George W. Noblit & Xue Lan Rong

Authors
  1. Shizhan Yuan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. George W. Noblit
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Xue Lan Rong
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shizhan Yuan .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Educational Policy & Lead'ship, Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

    William T. Pink

  2. School of Education, Uni. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA

    George W. Noblit

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Yuan, S., Noblit, G.W., Rong, X.L. (2017). The Education Issues of the Children of Internal Migrant Workers in China. In: Pink, W., Noblit, G. (eds) Second International Handbook of Urban Education. Springer International Handbooks of Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-40317-5_9

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-40317-5_9

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-40315-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-40317-5

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation