Light and shadow of public education for migrant children in urban China

This study is designed to identify the policy shift on migrant childrens1 education at national level in urban China2 during the past decades. Meanwhile, it is expected to explore the policy limitations reflected by the practice at school level regarding accommodating migrant childrens education. This study is conducted through policy review regarding education for migrant children and analysis of data collected through questionnaires and interviews at one public junior high school in Beijing. This study identifies a positive change of involving migrant children in urban public schools. However, there is a need for flexible mechanism that can fully accommodate various needs regarding migrant childrens education in urban public schools. The study argues the necessity of a multipartnership for establishing a sustainable public education system for accommodating migrant children education in urban public schools. Being different from other research on the same issue in urban China, this study leads a new round of discussion on the quality education for migrant children.