Children of migrant workers will have the same education opportunities as their urban counterparts before the end of this year, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said yesterday.

"The central government will allocate funds to local education departments, sufficient to cover extra education expenses in accordance with the number of migrant children they accept," the ministry said on its website.

Fund allocations were previously based on numbers of registered local students, and excluded the children of migrant workers.

The ministry is now drafting policies that provide special bonuses to local education departments that accept non-local children.

"The ministry intends to extend the free education umbrella to cover children from migrant worker families," the ministry spokesperson Xu Mei said.

Starting from the new semester next month, urban residents nationwide will be exempted from incidental expenses, making compulsory education totally free in these areas, according to a policy launched earlier this month by the MOE.

In 2004, Shijiazhuang was the first in the country to provide equal education opportunities to children of both local residents and migrant workers through the introduction of a unified system of tuition.

Consequently, almost all classes are seriously overcrowded, as 50 or 60 children are generally crammed into classrooms designed for 40 students, said Zang Dajian, an education bureau official of Qiaodong district, Shijiazhuang, Hebei province.

China provides a nine-year compulsory education system for children aged 6-15, comprising of six years of free primary education and three years of secondary education.

The system has long subsisted on government funds and been the privilege of children with local residential certification or hukou, and excluded children living with parents working in cities away from their registered homes.

Peng Shengzuo, 40, a construction worker in Beijing, is one example. His 11-year old daughter had to return to his hometown in Shangrao, Jiangxi province because schools in the capital do not accept pupils without a hukou.

As Peng's wife also works in Beijing the family can only be together once a year during the Spring Festival.

In 2007 a total 7.66 million children of migrant workers reached the age of starting compulsory education, according to statistics.

Most were concentrated in developed areas such as Beijing, Shanghai, Zhejiang and Guangdong provinces.

Questions:

1. What will the Ministry of Education do for local education departments starting this new school year?

2. Which city was the first to provide equal education opportunities to children of both residents and migrant workers?

3. In 2007 how many children of migrant workers reached the age of starting compulsory education?

Answers:

1. It will provide bonuses to those education departments that take in non-local children.

2. Shijiazhuang.

3. 7.66 million.

(英語點津 Helen 編輯）

About the broadcaster:

Bernice Chan is a foreign expert at China Daily Website. Originally from Vancouver, Canada, Bernice has written for newspapers and magazines in Hong Kong and most recently worked as a broadcaster for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, producing current affairs shows and documentaries.