China's migrant children drop out of school at a rate of up to 9.3 percent, and those who do go to school are mostly over-aged, according to a report released jointly by the National Working Committee for Children and Women (NWCCW) under China's State Council and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

The report defines migrant people as those who have been living in a place for a certain period of time but whose permanent residence is not in that place. The term "migrant children" refers to members of the migrant population under the age of 18.

Migrant children in China who have never been to school represent 6.85 percent of the total of migrant children; 2.45 percent are drop-outs. Those two groups together put the rate of school drop-outs as high as 9.3 percent, the report says.

For those in school, however, the over-age problem is becoming very serious.

For example, 46.9 percent of six-year-old migrant children havenot started school, and some 11- to 14-year-olds are still in their first and the second years, far exceeding the required six-year-old age in China's Compulsory Education Law.

According to the report, the biggest difficulty that migrant parents face is that education expenses are too high. About 48.4 percent of migrant children cannot enter higher grades in schools because the education fees are expensive.

"I went to school early in my hometown and soon finished my primary studies. The junior high schools in Beijing charge too high a fee that my family hadn't have that much money," said Zhu Lin 15, a school dropout. "I have to take care of my dad and mum, because they have health problems."

Figures from a seminar on migrant population held in 2004 show that China has more than 140 million migrant people -- accounting for nearly one tenth of the country's total population -- around 20 million of whom are under 18.

UNICEF China representative Christian Voumrad said migrant people "face prejudice and marginalization where they live and work. The same applies to the millions of children who accompany their migrating parents for they face problems and constraints in obtaining equal access to basic services such as education and health care as well as participating in social life in their new communities."

The report quotes a nine-year-old migrant girl complaining thather classmates live in the city: "They don't play with us because our clothes are not as good as theirs. They live in tall buildings but we don't. They can find that we are from other places."

Psychologists say discrimination is the biggest recessive injury to children. It can makes children scared and diffident and susceptible to anti-social behavior, which poses great dangers to their social stability after growing up.

In this respect, the Chinese government has been paying increasing attention to the problems that migrant children face.

In 2003, the General Office of the State Council issued a document aimed at improving the management and services for farmers migrating to cities, further providing access for migrant children's education and prohibiting extra fees for them.

"We have plans for the development of Chinese women and children from 2001 to 2010, in which we ensure migrant children's rights in terms of education and health care," said Zhang Liming, an official with the NWCCW.

"I feel the community and school now are caring more to our migrant people compared with two years ago," was selected as a choice by 69.3 percent migrant people in the survey conducted in two cities in China by UNICEF.

"Over the last couple of years, many efforts have been made by the government, the media, civil society and individuals to create a fairer environment for migrant children, especially in ensuring equal access to education," said Voumard.

Source: Xinhua