VZCZCXRO1160
RR RUEHCN RUEHVC
DE RUEHGH #0103/01 0810852
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 210852Z MAR 08
FM AMCONSUL SHANGHAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6760
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC 0212
RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 7299

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SHANGHAI 000103 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SCUL SMIG PGOV SOCI CH
SUBJECT: SHANGHAI EXPANDING EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR MIGRANT 
CHILDREN, BUT STILL A LONG-TERM CHALLENGE 
 
 
SHANGHAI 00000103  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: As in many other large Chinese cities, the 
Shanghai Municipal Government is exploring ways to improve the 
quality of education for migrant children.  The Shanghai 
Education Commission (SEC) in January 2008 announced plans to 
increase the proportion of migrant children in Shanghai enrolled 
in public schools to 70 percent by 2010.  Currently, 57 percent 
of migrant children attend Shanghai public schools.  The 
municipal government will provide subsidies to qualified private 
schools to accept migrant children.  During a visit to the Pu 
Guang migrant school in Pudong, Congenoffs learned that many 
migrant school facilities and quality of education lag far 
behind Shanghai public schools.  The school only had 20 teachers 
for its 700 students and it lacked facilities such as a computer 
lab.  Like many migrant schools, the Pu Guang School is working 
hard to improve its level of education, meet the SEC's standards 
for private schools and receive subsidies from the Shanghai 
government.  End Summary. 
 
------------------------ 
Compulsory Education for 
Migrant Children 
------------------------ 
 
¶2. (U) According to Shanghai government statistics, there are 
more than 4 million migrant workers in Shanghai.  However there 
were limited education options for migrant children through the 
1990s.  At that time, public schools usually only accepted 
children with proof of local residence registration (hukou).  As 
a result, migrant schools emerged to service the migrant 
community.  Although most Shanghai private schools do not have 
strict hukou requirements, their fees are usually too high for 
migrant workers.  Migrant schools charge considerably less 
tuition, but conditions and quality of education lag far behind 
Shanghai public schools.  In 2001, the Central Government 
decreed that local governments with large migrant populations 
must take the main responsibility for ensuring that migrant 
children have access to compulsory education and that public 
schools should serve as the main channel in providing education 
to migrant children. 
 
------------------ 
Shanghai's Efforts 
------------------ 
 
¶3. (U) Like many large cities, Shanghai is exploring different 
ways to promote compulsory education for migrant children.  In 
January 2008, the Shanghai Education Commission (SEC) announced 
a new policy on compulsory education for migrant children in 
Shanghai with the goal of enrolling 70 percent of migrant 
children in public schools by 2010.  One of the Shanghai 
Municipal Government's key programs for 2008 is to increase 
enrollment of migrant children in Shanghai's public schools to 
60 percent of all migrant children.  Congenoffs met with SEC 
Basic Education Department Vice Director Ling Xiaofeng on March 
7 to discuss the SEC's efforts.  Her section is responsible for 
making policies, planning, allocating resources and supervision 
of policy execution on the "Compulsory Education Law" in 
Shanghai.  Ling said that according to statistics from September 
2007, there are nearly 380,000 migrant children in Shanghai, 
297,000 of which are elementary school age and the remaining are 
junior high school age.  Among them, 57 percent are enrolled in 
public schools, approximately 216,900 children.  The other 
162,900 migrant children are enrolled in 258 migrant children 
schools scattered mostly in Shanghai's suburban districts. 
Except for a few migrant schools located in Shanghai's urban 
Putuo and Yangpu districts, there are no migrant schools in 
Shanghai's urban areas.  Migrant children living in other urban 
districts attend public schools. 
 
¶4. (U) Since 2004, the Shanghai Municipal Government has 
allocated 30 million RMB every year to support migrant 
children's education in suburban districts.  In 2007, the 
Shanghai government carried out renovations at all 240 migrant 
schools extant at that time to improve facilities at the schools 
such as lighting, cafeterias, safety features, toilets, etc.  At 
the same time, the local government has bought insurance for all 
schools.  In order to improve the quality of education at the 
schools, SEC has initiated a series of measures such as sending 
experienced teachers (some of whom are retired) to migrant 
schools, connecting each migrant school with one public school 
as sister schools and holding training seminars for migrant 
school principals. 
 
-------------------------------- 
Shanghai Increases Resources for 
Migrant Children's Education 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (U) In addition to enrolling 60 percent of migrant children 
in public schools in 2008, the Shanghai Municipal Government 
 
SHANGHAI 00000103  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
wants to transform 60 migrant schools into private schools. 
Usually, the education quality of private schools in Shanghai is 
higher than the general level of public schools and private 
schools usually charge 5,000-6500 RMB (about USD 700-900) for 
one semester.  Actually SEC wants to administer those qualified 
migrant schools as private schools now.  However, the standard 
for qualified migrant schools is still lower than general level 
of local schools.  According to Ling, there are fewer public 
schools in suburban areas where most migrant children live.  One 
of the SEC's goals is to reduce the gap between educational 
resources in urban and suburban districts.  SEC is coordinating 
with district educational bureaus to allocate and adjust 
educational resources according to the change of population 
growth and distribution.  In order to make up for the lack of 
public schools in some districts, SEC is encouraging the 
development of private schools.  The SEC plans to buy services 
from private schools and will pay private schools to accept 
migrant children.  In the Pudong district, private schools can 
get 1900 (more than USD 250) per year for absorbing one migrant 
child.  In addition, Shanghai has begun to transform qualified 
migrant schools into private schools.  To become a private 
school, a migrant school must meet the criteria on teachers' 
qualifications, educational quality and adequacy of school 
facilities. 
 
¶6. (U) As for migrant children enrolled in public schools, these 
children have the same rights as local children and do not need 
to pay tuition and book fees.  Ling noted that some public 
schools do not have the capacity to accept large numbers of 
migrant children.  These schools require that migrant children 
provide a long list of documents, including birth certificates, 
residence certificates, proof of their parents' employment, etc. 
 For many migrant children it is difficult to obtain all of 
these documents.  For these reasons, many migrant children 
continue to attend migrant schools, which charge 500 to 900 RMB 
(USD 70-125) per semester. 
 
--------------------------- 
The Pu Guang Migrant School 
--------------------------- 
 
¶7. (U) On March 5, Congenoffs visited the Pu Guang Migrant 
School located on the outskirts of Shanghai.  The Pu Guang 
Migrant School is typical of many migrant schools in Shanghai. 
It is located in a run-down three-story building, hidden among 
country cottages.  The school's principal, Mr. Zhou, provided a 
tour of the facilities.  The school provides both elementary and 
junior high school education to approximately 700 students. 
There are only 20 teachers at the school and 10 administrative 
staff members, most of whom are themselves migrants.  Students 
come from different parts of China and live near the school with 
their parents.  Unlike many migrant schools, Pu Guang does not 
provide school buses and most students ride bicycles to school. 
 
¶8. (U) The school was established in 1998 and has moved its 
campus several times.  The current school building was built in 
¶2005.  With some financial support from the Pudong Development 
Bureau, the school was able to renovate its cafeteria, clinic, 
and campus in 2007.  Zhou said that the school is very 
interested in transforming itself into a private school and is 
taking measures to meet the SEC's standards for private schools. 
 Four migrant schools in Pudong have already successfully met 
the SEC's standards and transformed themselves into private 
schools.  The current tuition in Pu Guang is about 600 RMB (USD 
85) per semester. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Mr. Zhou readily admitted that his school's facilities 
are inadequate.  For example, the school tried to set up a 
computer lab, but all of the computers they received as 
donations were broken.  Friends of the school are trying to fix 
the computers.  Mr. Zhou hopes that the school will meet the 
SEC's standards and receive subsidies.  Until then, it relies 
mainly on tuition fees and occasional grants from the Pudong 
Society Development Bureau. 
 
------------------------------ 
Comment: A Long-Term Challenge 
------------------------------ 
 
¶10. (SBU) Although Shanghai has one of the best educational 
systems in China, the city still struggles with trying to 
provide the same level of education for both migrant and local 
children.  In addition to improving education for migrant 
children, the SEC is also under pressure to improve education 
for local children and to increase the quality of education in 
suburban areas.  These pressures will continue and are likely to 
be of higher priority to the SEC.  It is also likely that 
migrant families will continue to flock to Shanghai searching 
for jobs, increasing the number of migrant children in need of 
education.  All of these factors indicate that the SEC will 
 
SHANGHAI 00000103  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
likely be struggling with finding a way to improve the quality 
of education for migrant children for some years to come. 
JARRETT