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Migrant workers' children to get free education in Shanghai

By Zheng Jinran (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-08-27 15:17

All children of migrant workers in Shanghai will receive free compulsory education by the end of 2010, people.com.cn reported on Friday.

Shanghai allocated 3.69 billion yuan ($543 million) in 2009 to help those pupils have an equal opportunity to study in schools without any extra charges, according to a statement made by the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Education on Friday.

It said 97.3% of about 400,000 migrant workers’ children will receive free compulsory education in Shanghai when the fall semester begins.

The other 10,000 pupils, who are still paying extra fees, study in 22 private schools. They will still study in them if they are qualified or go to other public or private schools after evaluation of all these schools. Then all pulils will not pay extra cost any more by the end of 2010.

Migrant workers’ children are required to pay extra fees for public schools where their parents are working because they don’t have hukou (household registrations) of that city, according to educational policies. But many cities are adopting new policies to change that situation.