Understanding migrant children’s education in Beijing:udpolicies, implementation, and the consequences forudprivately-run migrant schools

摘要

In China, the so-called “tidal wave” of rural-urban migrant workers since theudearly 1980s has created unique challenges for the government, one being migrantudchildren’s education in cities. In 2001, the central government adopted a policy of “twoudpriorities” (liangweizhu) towards the provision of compulsory education for theseudchildren, where the two areas of focus would be management by local governments inudreceiving areas – which, in the case of municipalities like Beijing, refers primarily to theudmunicipal and district governments – and education in public schools. Thisuddecentralization of responsibilities, however, has created space for differential policyudimplementation, and, in Beijing, this has meant that many migrant children still attendudpoor quality, often unlicensed migrant schools that are vulnerable to governmentudclosures and demolition.ududThough migrant children’s education is attracting increasing government andudsocietal attention, the effects of decentralization on privately-run migrant schools andudtheir students remain largely unexplored. In light of the policy of “two priorities,” thisudthesis highlights the development of two trends in Beijing: 1) the emergence ofudvariation between district policy approaches and 2) increased civil society involvement.udUsing Haidian, Shijingshan, and Fengtai districts as cases, this study draws on evidenceudfrom qualitative interviews and policy document analysis to examine the interactionudbetween these two trends and the consequences for migrant schools. It addressesudcritical questions concerning how policy implementation operates in an increasinglyudimportant but complex policy area and why, including the roles of policy history andudlocal context, and illustrates that the municipal and district-level policy approachesudshape the situations of migrant schools and their students directly and indirectlyud(through their impact on civil society). These findings shed light on the complexities ofudthe implementation process and the implications for trends in social stratification,udcreating a stronger foundation upon which to improve educational opportunities forudmigrant children in Beijing.