The Right to Education of Rural-Urban Migrant Households in Chongqing, China
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The Right to Education of Rural-Urban Migrant Children in Chongqing, China The Right to Education of Rural-Urban Migrant Households in Chongqing, China Jingrong Chen Ellen Desmet Koen De Feyter With the collaboration of Shisong Jiang, Xi Chen, Dongmei Liu and Hanbing Ai Localizing Human Rights Working Paper Series No. 3 General Editors: Koen De Feyter and Ellen Desmet Antwerp: University of Antwerp (2016) The Right to Education of Rural-Urban Migrant Households in Chongqing, China Jingrong Chen Ellen Desmet Koen De Feyter With the collaboration of Shisong Jiang, Xi Chen, Dongmei Liu and Hanbing Ai Localizing Human Rights Working Paper Series No. 3 General Editors: Koen De Feyter and Ellen Desmet Antwerp: University of Antwerp (2016) Localizing Human Rights Working Paper Series The Localizing Human Rights Working Paper Series consists of studies on the local relevance of human rights, particularly but not exclusively in non-Western contexts. They form part of a long-term interdisciplinary project, combining insights from law, political and social sciences. The localizing human rights research program is coordinated by the Law and Development Research Group at the University of Antwerp (Belgium). General Editors of the Series are Professor Koen De Feyter, Chair of International Law at the University of Antwerp, and dr. Ellen Desmet, University of Antwerp and Ghent University. The studies are also available online on the website of the Law and Development Research Group. In the Localizing Human Rights Working Paper Series: No. 1: Vandenbogaerde, Arne (2015). The Human Rights Council from Below. A Case Study of the Declaration on the Rights of Peasants. No. 2: Destrooper, Tine (2015). An Analysis of the Human Rights-Based Approach to Development. UNICEF’s Role in the Villages Assainis Program in the Bas-Congo. No. 3: Chen, Jingrong, Desmet, Ellen and De Feyter, Koen (2016). The Right to Education of Rural-Urban Migrant Households in Chongqing, China. ISBN 9789082397932 D/2015/13.681/3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors are grateful to the Shapingba District Education Commission of Chongqing Municipality, for their permission to carry out this research project. Moreover, special thanks are due to Wim Haagdorens and Ching Lin Pang of the Department of Translators and Interpreters of the University of Antwerp, for their translations of the interviews and focus group discussions from Mandarin to English. We are also grateful to Tom Decorte, Felipe Gómez, Barbara Oomen, Gaby Oré Aguilar, Christiane Timmerman and the members of the Human Rights Integration network, for their contributions or comments at different stages in the research process. 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................... 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................ 3 LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................... 7 LIST OF TABLES ..................................................................................................... 7 ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................................... 9 OVERVIEW OF LEGISLATION AND POLICY ............................................................ 11 GLOSSARY .......................................................................................................... 17 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................ 19 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 23 1. RESEARCH CONTEXT, PROBLEM AND QUESTIONS ......................................... 24 1.1. RESEARCH CONTEXT AND PROBLEM ................................................................... 24 1.1.1. MIGRATION AND COMPULSORY EDUCATION IN CHINA ............................................... 24 1.1.2. INTERNATIONAL AND DOMESTIC PROTECTION OF THE RIGHT TO EDUCATION .................. 25 1.1.3. CHONGQING AND THE SHAPINGBA DISTRICT ............................................................ 29 1.1.4. BALANCED DEVELOPMENT OF COMPULSORY EDUCATION ........................................... 32 1.2. THEORETICAL AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORKS .................................................... 36 1.2.1. LOCALIZING HUMAN RIGHTS ................................................................................. 36 1.2.2. TRANSFORMATION PERSPECTIVE ............................................................................ 37 1.2.3. USERS’ PERSPECTIVE ............................................................................................ 39 1.3. RESEARCH AIMS AND QUESTIONS ...................................................................... 39 1.3.1. RESEARCH AIMS .................................................................................................. 39 1.3.2. RESEARCH QUESTIONS ......................................................................................... 40 3 2. METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK AND CHALLENGES .................................... 45 2.1. OVERVIEW OF THE RESEARCH PROCESS AND STRATEGY ........................................... 45 2.2. DATA COLLECTION METHODS ........................................................................... 47 2.2.1. SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS............................................................................. 47 2.2.2. FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONS ................................................................................. 47 2.2.3. DIRECT OBSERVATION AND DOCUMENT ANALYSIS ..................................................... 48 2.3. CHARACTERISTICS OF RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS ..................................................... 48 2.3.1. PARENTS ........................................................................................................... 49 2.3.2. CHILDREN .......................................................................................................... 50 2.3.3. OTHER STAKEHOLDERS ......................................................................................... 51 2.4. ACCESS TO THE FIELD ...................................................................................... 51 2.4.1. VIA GOVERNMENTAL INSTITUTIONS ........................................................................ 53 2.4.2. VIA THE SCHOOL ................................................................................................. 55 2.4.3. VIA DIRECT PERSONAL RELATIONS .......................................................................... 56 2.5. THE INTERVIEW PROCESS AND ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS ........................................ 56 2.5.1. PRESENTATION OF THE RESEARCH .......................................................................... 57 2.5.2. INFORMED CONSENT, TAPING AND CONFIDENTIALITY ................................................ 58 2.5.3. HYPOTHESIS GUESSING AND SENSITIVE QUESTIONS ................................................... 59 2.5.4. FACTORS INFLUENCING OPENNESS OF RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS .................................. 60 2.6. CROSS-CULTURAL AND CROSS-LANGUAGE RESEARCH .............................................. 62 3. FINDINGS OF THE SOCIO-LEGAL RESEARCH ................................................... 65 3.1. ACCESS TO EDUCATION ................................................................................... 65 3.1.1. ACCESS TO EDUCATION IN GENERAL ....................................................................... 65 3.1.2. FOR URBAN CHILDREN ......................................................................................... 65 3.1.3. FOR MIGRANT CHILDREN ...................................................................................... 72 3.1.3.1. Conclusion ................................................................................................... 78 3.1.4. TRANSITION FROM PRIMARY TO JUNIOR MIDDLE SCHOOL ........................................... 79 3.1.4.1. For urban children ....................................................................................... 79 3.1.4.2. For migrant children .................................................................................... 80 3.1.4.3. Conclusion ................................................................................................... 82 3.2. GOING TO SCHOOL ........................................................................................ 82 3.2.1. EVALUATING THE SCHOOL’S QUALITY ...................................................................... 82 3.2.2. CHILDREN’S WELL-BEING AT SCHOOL ...................................................................... 84 3.2.2.1. School performance and competition ........................................................ 84 3.2.2.2. Migrant children’s experiences in school .................................................... 86 3.2.3. THE ROLE OF PARENTS IN EDUCATION ..................................................................... 89 3.2.4. ADDITIONAL FINANCIAL BURDENS .......................................................................... 93 3.3. LOCALIZING HUMAN RIGHTS............................................................................. 82 4 3.3.1. NAMING, BLAMING, CLAIMING .............................................................................. 94 3.3.1.1. Cross-cutting contextual factors ................................................................. 95 3.3.1.2. Naming .......................................................................................................