Most urban dwellers believe that nowadays, the only advantage of
holding a residence card in a big city is that it means cheaper
tuition when their children enter school. But for the floating
population, especially migrant workers, schooling for the kids has
become a huge headache.
They have two options: public schools and schools for children
of migrant workers.
Currently, the parents of 170,000 of the 240,000 transient
school-aged children in Beijing,
or 71.4 percent of the total, prefer public schools. But
non-resident students are required to pay extra tuition amounting
to 200 yuan (US$24.16) per semester in primary school and 500 yuan
(US$60.41) in middle school.
Most of those who simply cannot afford the fees send their kids
to one of the 280 immigrant-operated schools for transients. Some
68,000 children are enrolled in these makeshift schools, many of
which lack qualified teachers, equipment and other facilities.
Education departments in many cities are beginning to crack down on
these illegally operated institutions.
The extra fee for public schooling was based on the principle
that compulsory education is generally supported by local
expenditure. Without local permanent residence registration, the
migrant workers were not allowed to share local public educational
resources. However, the floating population has played an
increasingly important role in the city's construction and
development, and their contribution to local economic growth has
now been recognized. Thus, their children should enjoy the same
rights to free public education that the local kids do.
In September 2003, the General Office of China's State Council
issued a document concerning children of migrant workers receiving
the compulsory education in cities. It urged local governments to
reduce or cancel extra fees for immigrant workers.
Beijing is actually taking several steps to resolve the
education problem for transients. In addition to canceling the
extra fees, all district and county governments will receive
education appropriations based on the actual number of students in
the schools, rather than only the number of registered permanent
residents. Moreover, the municipal budget office will establish a
special fund for transient students' education and provide
subsidies to districts and counties where there are large migrant
populations.
The new regulation enables the parents save as much as 1,000
yuan (US$120.82) every year, a substantial sum to people who are on
the lower rungs of the income ladder.
(China.org.cn by Li Xiao April 28, 2004)
