Difficulties in the implementation of compulsory education policy for migrant children of migrant workers

Source: Research on Educational Development, No.6, 2009

First, the education of migrant children: from compulsory education to post-compulsory education

Since the mid-1980s, with a large number of migrant workers entering cities, the education of migrant workers' children has become increasingly prominent. Before the implementation of the "two-oriented" policy (mainly managed by the local government, mainly full-time public primary and secondary schools), this problem was mainly manifested in the "difficulty in entering schools" in the compulsory education stage. With the implementation of the "two-oriented" policy since 200 1, the problem of "difficulty in enrolling children of floating population" in urban compulsory education has been greatly alleviated. According to relevant data, as of May 2008, there were 405,000 children of migrant workers receiving compulsory education in Beijing, of whom 66% (about 266,000) were studying in public schools. [1] The survey conducted by the research group of the Central Institute of Education also shows that by the end of 2007, among the l2 cities surveyed, the proportion of public schools in other cities 10 exceeded 50%, among which Zhengzhou, Wuxi and Shunde accounted for more than 80%, and Shenyang and Shijiazhuang accounted for as much as 100. [2] This shows that many cities have effectively implemented the policy of "mainly accepting public schools", which makes it relatively easy for migrant children of migrant workers to enter public schools.

With the solution of enrollment in compulsory education, more and more floating children enter urban public schools. With the growth of these children's age, the problems in their post-compulsory education stage gradually appear, that is, how to enter high school and how to take the college entrance examination. The survey shows that it is difficult to realize the will of migrant children to receive post-compulsory education. According to a survey conducted by the research group of Central Education Research Institute in 2007, a considerable number of parents of migrant workers hope that their children will continue to study in high schools in the inflow areas after graduating from junior high school, especially in public schools, and 58.25% parents of migrant workers have such a wish. [3] This shows that parents of migrant workers hope that their children will continue to attend high schools in the inflow areas and enjoy quality education in cities. However, this desire of migrant workers' parents is contradictory to the current entrance examination system and college entrance examination system. At present, it is difficult to open ordinary high school education to migrant workers' children in the inflow areas, and it is a problem for migrant workers' children to receive high school education and register for the college entrance examination in floating cities. In this regard, most migrant workers can only choose to send their children back to their hometown to attend high school, and the rest will either go to public high schools, private high schools or vocational high schools. Those who choose to attend high school in cities are generally the children of a few economically wealthy migrant workers. There are still a certain number of children who no longer go to school and start to enter social employment. In addition, some students are still confused and don't know what to do next.

For those children who go back to their hometown to attend high school, because they were educated in the city before, going back to their hometown to study will have many influences on them:

First of all, we will face the connection between the education received in the inflow area and the education in our hometown. Due to the differences in education level, teaching methods and course materials between the two places, children's academic performance after returning to their hometown will often be affected, and the possibility of being admitted to universities in the future will also be reduced. For the children of migrant workers who are lucky enough to continue their high school education in cities, according to the current college entrance examination registration regulations, they must also go back to their hometown to sign up for the college entrance examination. Judging from the current reform of college entrance examination system in China, more than a dozen provinces have put forward separate programs, and all provinces (regions) in China have been implementing new curriculum standards since 2007. Every province (region) has an independent college entrance examination, which is unified by the province and the whole country. The contents, methods and methods of the college entrance examination are definitely different among provinces. Students' grades will inevitably be affected when they move to the above-ground high school and return to their place of residence for the college entrance examination.

Secondly, for the children of migrant workers who have been receiving compulsory education in cities, they may have adapted to the learning atmosphere and learning style of urban schools, and their learning attitude, life attitude and even lifestyle have also undergone profound changes. Studying in China will have a great influence on their outlook on learning and life. In other words, the children of migrant workers who have studied and lived in the city for quite some time may no longer adapt to the original lifestyle. Going back to rural areas for further education will bring new problems in integrating into rural education.

It can be said that the continuing education after junior high school graduation has become an important issue in the education of migrant workers' children, which fully shows that the inequality of educational opportunities for migrant workers' children after compulsory education not only makes it difficult for them to receive higher education, but also indicates that they may be in a weak position in future employment and future income distribution. In other words, it is likely to become a new urban poor group in the future. With the passage of time, the above problems will become a major problem in the field of education in China for some time to come, and it will also become the biggest problem in the education of migrant workers' children in China after the problem of "difficulty in entering schools" in compulsory education. Therefore, it is urgent to pay attention to and solve this problem.

Second, the causes of post-compulsory education problems

The fundamental reason why it is difficult for migrant children of migrant workers to receive post-compulsory education in cities lies in the limitations of the existing household registration system, urban-rural dual education system and related education policies. The specific analysis is as follows:

1. Impact of household registration system

It has been recognized that the existing household registration system in China is the root of the problem of post-compulsory education for migrant children. Specifically, the impact of the household registration system on the post-compulsory education of migrant workers' children is mainly reflected in the following aspects: since the reform and opening up, migrant workers and their children have the freedom to work and go to school in cities, although the government has gradually relaxed the restrictive policy on population mobility. However, the urban-rural dual household registration system has not been fundamentally changed, and there is still an insurmountable gap between urban household registration and rural household registration. In particular, the educational inequality system derived from the household registration management system makes the identity difference between migrant workers' children and urban students more and more serious. From this point of view, after compulsory education, urban students can successfully enter high school for education with their personal achievements, and naturally sign up for the college entrance examination in the local area. For the children of migrant workers, although they may have moved to the city with their parents for education since childhood, they cannot move to the city to receive high school education and take the college entrance examination just because their hukou is in the countryside.

2. The influence of urban-rural dual education system

China's education is the same as its economic and social structure, and there is a huge gap between urban and rural areas. Under the urban-rural dual education system, the funds for urban primary and secondary education mainly come from the municipal and district education financial allocations, urban education surcharge and students' tuition and fees. In rural areas, compulsory education funds are mainly composed of county and township (town) financial allocations, rural education surcharge, tuition and fees and social donations. Urban education can only be enjoyed by urban residents, while rural education is backward due to insufficient investment and can only be undertaken by farmers independently. Rural students and urban students cannot receive education across regions.

Under the dual education pattern, urban and rural education is in an unbalanced development state and the gap is widening day by day. Urban education has advantages in government investment, school conditions and teachers. For example, in terms of investment in education funds, the total number of students in rural compulsory education accounts for 6 1.8% of the total number of students in compulsory education in China, which should be the main part of national education investment in theory. However, of the more than 580 billion investment in education in 2002, rural areas only received 23%, while cities received 77%. [4] As far as school conditions are concerned, rural areas lag far behind cities in terms of per capita school building area, number of computers, book collection and total fixed assets. In terms of teachers, the gap between urban and rural education funds directly leads to the difference between urban and rural teachers. In 2003 alone, the teacher-student ratio in rural areas was 2 1. 1, that is, each teacher had to undertake 2 1. 1 student, which was l.8 higher than that in cities (it was 19.3 in cities). [5]

This educational gap between urban and rural areas objectively attracts rural students to study in cities in order to enjoy better educational resources. At the same time, the influx of a large number of migrant children has increased the financial and management pressure of urban public schools, thus reducing the enthusiasm of urban public schools to accept migrant children. Although the implementation of the "two-oriented" policy has greatly eased the problem of migrant workers' children receiving compulsory education in cities, there is no clear policy for their post-compulsory education. Moreover, due to the influence of the dual education system in urban and rural areas, the development of urban and rural education is not synchronized, which makes it difficult to connect the education under the two systems.

In addition, the negative incentive brought by the dual education system in urban and rural areas is also an important obstacle for the children of migrant workers to receive post-compulsory education in cities. The negative impact of urban-rural dual education system on rural human capital is reflected in the reduction of rural education demand. Dual education forms the high cost and low quality of rural education, making the school education of migrant workers' children a high-risk and low-return investment. Coupled with the division of urban and rural labor market, farmers can't see the benefits brought by education investment, so they reduce their willingness to invest in their children's education, resulting in a high dropout rate of migrant workers' children in the post-compulsory education stage. For example, from the 17 rural junior high schools in East China, Northeast China, North China and South China in 2002, the dropout rate of graduates reached 42.9%, which means that nearly half of the students did not continue to study in colleges and universities. [6] This low willingness to invest in children's education makes migrant workers unwilling to put money, time and energy into their children's study, which also affects their post-compulsory education.

3. Restrictions on the education policy of "enrolling students according to their place of residence"

From the perspective of education policy, China's Compulsory Education Law clearly stipulates the admission conditions for citizens to receive education, that is, "admission according to residence". This combination of children's right to education and household registration system is essentially to isolate migrant workers' children from urban education. In recent years, although the government has largely solved the problem of migrant workers' children receiving compulsory education in cities through the "two modernizations" policy, there is no clear policy for their post-compulsory education. More importantly, in recent years, the government's reform of education policy has not relaxed or changed the regulation of "enrolling in schools according to household registration", and still regards the household registration system as the basic condition for children to receive education. For example, the newly revised Compulsory Education Law in 2006 still emphasizes this principle. Article 12 stipulates that "local people's governments at all levels shall ensure that school-age children and adolescents attend schools where their household registration is located". This means that the institutional obstacles for the children of floating population to receive post-compulsory education in cities still exist.

Third, long-term and transitional measures to solve the problems of migrant workers' children after compulsory education.

1. Long-term measures: deepen the reform of the household registration system and promote the balanced development of urban and rural education integration.

The existing household registration system is the core factor that affects the children of migrant workers to receive post-compulsory education in cities, and all other influencing factors are causal with the household registration system. Therefore, the reform of household registration system has become the key to solve the problem of post-compulsory education for migrant children. In recent years, the household registration system has been reformed all over the country, but the national measures on household registration system reform have not yet been introduced. But at present, the general direction of China's household registration system reform has been determined, that is, gradually breaking the dual structure, canceling rural household registration, implementing household registration management according to the place of residence, and establishing a unified "household registration" between urban and rural areas. [7] When the household registration reform can be implemented, there is no clear answer. Due to the great differences in economic and social development in different parts of China, the situation is very complicated, and the social welfare and rights attached to the household registration system in different places are not the same, so it is difficult to carry out a unified reform of the household registration system nationwide in a short time. The reform of household registration system will be a long-term and gradual process. The key here is how to provide equal public education and welfare guarantee system for all people, including migrant workers' children, through the reform of household registration system, and fundamentally ensure that migrant workers' children receive equal post-compulsory education in cities.

In addition, the dual education system in urban and rural areas is also an important reason for the post-compulsory education of children of floating population. Therefore, in order to realize the integration and balanced development of urban and rural education in China, it is urgent to reform this system. Among them, the most fundamental thing is to reform and improve the current education investment system and establish and improve the government education public investment system. First of all, it is necessary to improve the public investment and financial supply level of the central and provincial governments in education, and increase the state's public investment in education, especially rural education. Secondly, strengthen the investment responsibility of the central and provincial governments, and change the current situation that the proportion of the central and provincial (municipal) governments in public investment in education is too low. Third, establish a standardized transfer payment system for basic education. Standardized transfer payment system is the main policy means for the government to solve the regional differences in education development. Through the construction of transfer payment system in compulsory education stage, it can objectively promote the development of high school education in different regions and narrow the gap between urban and rural education, thus fundamentally solving the problems of migrant workers' children after receiving compulsory education in cities.

2. Transitional measures: reform the entrance examination and examination system for children of floating population.

It is a realistic problem for migrant children of migrant workers to receive post-compulsory education. Therefore, it is necessary to find some transitional measures to solve the post-compulsory education problem of migrant workers' children when the current household registration system still exists and the education system has not changed fundamentally.

The author believes that from the perspective of education policy, one of the biggest problems in the post-compulsory education of children of floating population is the policy of "according to the place of household registration". For these students who have received compulsory education in the city, the obvious disadvantage is to let them go back to their original residence to receive high school education and take the college entrance examination. In the case that the household registration system cannot be completely reformed in the short term, we can also try to take a transitional measure to solve this problem, which is based on the method of "years of living in the local area+years of continuous education in the local area", that is, as long as the children of migrant workers meet certain standards according to this method, they can receive high school education like urban students and take the college entrance examination in cities.

The advantage and feasibility of this method is that it is not restricted by household registration. As long as the children of migrant workers have lived in this city for a certain number of years, they have one of the conditions for receiving high school education and taking the college entrance examination in this city. This is actually the direction of the current household registration system reform in China. Before the formal reform of the national unified household registration system begins, we might as well introduce this practice in the post-compulsory education field of floating population children as a transition. Because migrant children of migrant workers generally live with their parents, once their children have lived in a certain city for a certain number of years, it means that their parents have made certain contributions to the economic and social development of this city, and they should have the right to enjoy the public welfare system of this city, including the welfare of their children's education. Of course, it is not enough to live in the local city, because according to the laws of education, education itself has inherent consistency laws, and the city government and schools may be worried about the education of migrant workers' children before receiving high school education because of the consideration of students' education quality and school enrollment rate, so the condition of "continuous education years in the local area" can be added to this access condition.

Regarding the specific "year", all localities can formulate corresponding measures according to local specific conditions. It should be pointed out that the threshold conditions for enrolling in the college entrance examination in cities should be higher than the conditions and starting point for receiving high school education. Because, according to the existing college entrance examination registration and university admission policies, some cities have certain preferential admission scores for local household registration candidates. Once these places unconditionally liberalize the conditions for the college entrance examination, it is likely that a large number of candidates will flock to these cities for low admission scores, including the previous college entrance examination immigrant groups will also take the opportunity to "hitchhike". Therefore, the policy to solve the problem of college entrance examination for migrant children of migrant workers can set higher threshold conditions than high school education on the conditions of "years of living in the local area" and "years of continuous education in the local area" to take into account the educational fairness of other groups.

To annotate ...

Article 9 of the compulsory education law promulgated by 1985 stipulates that "local people's governments at all levels shall ... let children and adolescents go to school nearby". The newly revised Compulsory Education Law in 2006 still emphasizes this principle, and its article 12 stipulates: "Local people's governments at all levels shall ensure that school-age children and adolescents are enrolled in schools near their domicile".

refer to

[1] Cheng Yifeng. Nearly 70% children of migrant workers in Beijing attend public schools [EB/OL]. Xinhuanet, September 26, 2008.

[2][3] Research Group of Central Institute of Education. Investigation report on the education of children of migrant workers [J]. Education Research, 2008, (4).

[4] Qing Lianbin. Education equity is the guarantee of reasonable social mobility [N]. Study times, 23 March 2005.

[5] stone. Research on the equal supply of urban and rural basic education [D]. Jinan: Shandong University, 2007.

[6] Han Xiuhua. A Study on Rural Labor Transfer in China under Dual Education [D].Xi 'an: Northwest University, 2006.

[7] the general direction of household registration reform is determined, and it is planned to implement residence registration [n]. City Express, 2008- 12- 13.