Migrant students left behind as schools shut down(2)

Unfair demands

Reasons for the crackdown on private schools vary, the most common being lack of permits and school buildings not meeting safety standards, China Daily reported Wednesday.

Yang Tuan, the principal of a primary school in Daxing, told Beijing News she has applied for official permits to run her school since 2002, but has never received approval.

According to the safety standards, a school should be at least 15,000 square meters in size and have floor space of at least 3,587 square meters, as well as a 200-meter track for sports.

"Being realistic, no private school for migrant children can meet that standard," said Yang, whose school was among those ordered to close this summer.

Zhang Zhiqiang, who works for Migrant Workers' Friend, a non-governmental organization dedicated to helping laborers and their children, said only 63 primary schools for migrant workers' children have been approved by city authorities.

"Many people run schools for profit and are mostly unwilling to invest in improving the structure, as they are concerned about the future and whether or not the school will be shut down," Zhang said.

Even though most are unable to offer good teaching resources and better facilities, unauthorized schools survive because of the overall limited capacity of public schools, said Lu Huilin, a professor of sociology at Peking University.

The decision to close private schools for the children of migrant workers is only justified if the pupils are all properly relocated, he added.

Data from the Beijing Bureau of Statistics show that the capital's population reached 19.61 million on Nov. 1 last year, a 44.5 percent increase from 2000.

Included in that figure are 249,000 youngsters aged 6 to 14 who do not have permanent residencies, 28 percent of the total – a 19.1 percent rise from 2000.