Beijing to issue college matriculation policy for migrants

BEIJING - A new plan for the college entrance exam policy for migrant children in Beijing will be worked out by the end of this year, Beijing education authorities said on Friday.

The Beijing Municipal Commission of Education made a public announcement in response to an application filed by migrant worker volunteers in October. The volunteers asked educational departments to publish the results of migrant children's college matriculation research and measures for balancing educational resources.

The commission said the new plan will provide equal rights to education and matriculation opportunities for migrant children.

However, it did not give a clear answer on whether migrant students who will take the college entrance exams, or "gaokao," in June 2013 could stay in Beijing for the exam.

Under current policies, migrant workers' children are not free to attend senior high schools or take college entrance exams outside of their home provinces.

Figures provided by the Beijing education commission indicate that about 400,000 migrant children were studying at primary and middle schools in Beijing in 2011. Only about 10,000 stayed on for senior high school there, and the rest returned to their hometowns to prepare for the gaokao or left school to find jobs.

Education departments across the country have made various efforts to create policies on the matriculation of migrant children this year, including those in Shanghai Municipality and Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangsu and Heilongjiang provinces.