Rights-Based Approach to the Educational Experience of Migrant Children in China
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Rights-based Approach to the Educational Experience of Migrant Children in China A Research Paper presented by: Lin Jin (China) in partial fulfillment of the requirements for obtaining the degree of MASTERS OF ARTS IN DEVELOPMENT STUDIES Specialization: Human Rights, Development and Social Justice (HDS) Members of the Examining Committee: Dr Rachel Kurian Dr Thanh-Dam Truong The Hague, The Netherlands December 2012 ii Acknowledgement I would like to express my sincere thanks to Dr Rachel Kurian, who has always been kind, patient and supportive. Thank you very much for inspiring me, be- lieving in me, and encouraging me throughout the research paper writing pro- cess. My special thanks go to Dr Thanh-Dam Truong, for offering kind help and advice, and Dr Jeff Handmaker for his guidance and support. My deep gratitude goes to my parents for all their love, support and under- standing. Thanks to all my friends in ISS. Although we have only shared as short as sev- en months together, your wisdom, liveliness, and kindness always inspire me. Without the support from people mentioned above, this research would not have been completed. Lastly, I apologize for any technical or academic errors in the paper and I am solely responsible for them. Lin Jin iii Contents List of Tables v List of Figures vii List of Acronyms viii Abstract vix Chapter 1 Introduction 1 1.1 The Research Problem 1 1.1.1 “Under the Same Blue Sky?” 1 1.1.2 Rural Urban Worker and Child Migration 1 1.2 Objectives of the Study 4 1.3 Research Questions 4 1.4 Methodology 5 1.5 Structure of the Paper 6 Chapter 2 Differential Citizenship and the Rights to Education for Migrant Children 7 2.1 Introduction 7 2.2 The Hukou System 7 2.2.1 Historical Background 7 2.2.2 Hukou and Children's Education 9 2.3 Citizenship Rights and Children's Education 12 2.4 Rights-based Approach to Education and 4 As Framework 13 2.4.1 Rights-based Approach 13 2.4.2 The 4 As Framework 15 2.5 Concluding Remarks 16 Chapter 3 Internal Migration, Hukou System and the Consequences for the Social Rights of Migrant Workers and their Children: A View from Bejing 17 3.1 Introduction 17 3.2 Migrant Workers in Beijing 17 3.3 Migrant Children and Their Educational Experience in Beijing 18 3.3.1 General Information 18 3.3.2 Adaptive Strategies in Beijing 20 3.4 Concluding Remarks 23 Chapter 4 A Rights-based Approach to Education: Case Study of a Local Public School 24 iv 4.1 Guang'an Junior High School 24 4.2 Assessment through the 4 As Framework 28 4.2.1 Availability 28 4.2.2 Accessibility 29 4.2.3 Acceptability 30 4.2.4 Adaptability 31 4.3 Concluding Remarks 31 Chapter 5 A Rights-based Approach to Education: Case Study of a Private Migrant School 32 5.1 XX Migrant School 32 5.2 Assessments through the 4 As Framework 37 5.2.1 Availability 37 5.2.2 Accessibility 38 5.2.3 Acceptability 38 5.2.4 Adaptability 39 5.3 Concluding Remarks 40 Chapter 6 Conclusion 41 References 43 v List of Tables Table 1 Relationship between hukou status and types of rural-urban migration 8 Table 2 Uneven distribution of migrant children and different approaches adopted by district governments 23 Table 3 Recruitment of students at Guang’an 27 Table 4 Estimated annual income in the next five years (yuan) 34 Table 5 Tuition fees and other charges at the XX Migrant School (yuan) 35 vi List of Figures Figure 1 Rural-urban Income Disparity in China 1978-2000 2 Figure 2 China’s Regional Disparity in Per Capita GDP in 2000 3 Figure 3 Education Rights Circle Diagram 15 Figure 4 Number of Migrant Children in Beijing since 2000 18 Figure 5 Migrant Children Living in Different Districts in Beijing 19 Figure 6 Migrant Children Attending Different Types of Schools in Beijing 19 Figure 7 Migrant Children Attending Public Schools in Beijing 21 Figure 8 Distributions of Migrant Children in Different School Periods 21 Figure 9 Changes in the Recruitment of Students since 2001 27 vii List of Acronyms BMEC Beijing Municipal Education Commission CPPCC Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference GDP Gross Domestic Product NPC National People’s Congress SSB State Statistical Bureau UDHR Universal Declaration of Human Rights UNCRC United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child viii Abstract In the last few decades, China has experienced a great flow of internal migra- tion with more than 200 million rural labourers moving into urban area in pur- suit of better economic opportunities. At the same time, the number of mi- grant children increased significantly as they accompany their migrant parents in the cities. Due to China’s special hukou (household registration) system, many migrant children’s basic rights to education are violated despite the fact that they are entitled to the right to education in both domestic law and inter- national conventions. Both central and local governments have adopted poli- cies in tackling the issue over years, yet, it is still difficult for many migrant children to receive quality education. This research investigates the tension between China’s hukou system and children’s rights to education with the city of Beijing as a case study. It analyzes the ways in which committed schools have been challenged to provide quality education for migrant children. With China being a state party of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), this research ap- plies the rights-based approach and uses the 4 As framework, which suggests that the right to education should be available, accessible, acceptable and adaptable, as an analytical tool in examining the situation of migrant children’s education in public and private schools in Beijing. In addition, the concept of ‘differential citizenship’ is also introduced as a way of conceptualizing the limi- nal status of migrant workers and their children—living in the urban area yet cannot enjoy an urban life. Relevance to Development Studies Attaining an adequate level of education is an important component of human development and Human Rights. This research deals with migrant children’s educational rights—which are challenged in China in the process of industriali- zation and rural-urban migration. Violation of the rights to education seriously affects these children’s future development. Urgent measures need to be taken in tackling this issue and ensure migrant children are provided with proper ed- ucation. Therefore, this study contributes to the deeper understanding, policy and method that can be promoted in the process of realizing children’s rights to education. Keywords Internal migration, hukou, migrant children, education, rights-based approach, differential citizenship ix Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 The Research Problem 1.1.1 “Under the Same Blue Sky?” The historical movement of population from rural to urban areas in the course of the development process has played a critical role in many development strategies (Ye and Pan 2011: 356). Following the path of most industrialized countries, the current trend of rural-urban migration is occurring in many de- veloping countries (ibid.).The moving of more than 200 million rural labourers into urban China is considered the greatest flow of internal migration in history (Chan 2009: 5). Whereas in many western countries, rural-urban migrants have the same legal and social rights as residents in the new locality, such as access to housing, education, employment health services, legal protection, etc, in China despite the high number of rural labourers coming to the cities, the per- centage of permanent migrants is low. Few of the migrant workers are able to become permanent urban residents. This is mainly due to the existing hukou (household registration) system that divides the population in China into dif- ferent categories as “peasants” or “residents”, which further determines the rights and benefits they enjoy. Increasingly children are also migrating with their parents as part of the migration process. According to the 2000 census, it has been estimated that during this mass movement, 58 million children have been left behind in the countryside, and 19 million staying with their migrant parents in the cities (Chan 2009: 27). An important constitutional right of all children is to have education. This right has come under strain as a consequence of their migra- tion, as the financial allocation and responsibilities for education are based on China’s household registration system. At the same time, several urban munic- ipalities have had to meet these challenges in the light of increasing numbers of migrant children within their jurisdiction. Once Premier Wen Jiabao visited a migrant school in Beijing and he wrote on the blackboard: 同在蓝天下，共同成长进步(Under the same blue sky, grow up and progress together). Yet unfortunately, the same blue sky seems to be the only thing that children of migrant workers share with the urban chil- dren (Chan 2009: 27). 1.1.2 Rural-Urban Worker and Child Migration Since the liberalization economic reforms that started in December 1978, China has been experiencing a rapid economic growth. Rapid industrialization led to a growing demand of labour in the secondary and tertiary industries in urban areas and at the same time, the amount of land per capita was shrinking as a result of population growth and the conversion of agricultural land to non- agricultural uses. The growing unemployment and underemployment in rural 1 areas pushed a large number of rural labourers into cities in order to seek bet- ter employment opportunities.