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This thesis discusses about the challenge of education for migrant children in the rapidly urbanized Chinese society. An ethnographic research was conducted in one of the unregistered migrant schools in Beijing. Through a triangulation of research methods of participatory observation, semi-structured and life history interview, as well as photography, the research, from emic perspectives, analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of the migrant schools in education provision to migrant children, understands the gaps between policy commitments and on-the-ground delivery of public education provision, and raises a few policy recommendations of developing the migrant schools and improving education provision to migrant children. The findings suggest that the migrant schools have played an important role in meeting the unfulfilled demand for education for migrant children in cities. However, the pursuit of short-term profits compromise education quality of such schools, the problem of inequality of quality becomes significant when the migrant schools function to reduce inequality of opportunity. In addition, the findings show that the relationships between the migrant schools and local governments are of critical importance for school development. Based on the research, I would propose that the emerging public-private partnerships in education service provision can be an effective way to diversify and expand service provision channel and benefit the school, the state and migrant children.

AbstractRecently, crises seem to predominate migration policymaking. They are commonly seen as critical junctures which precipitate major policy change. However, rather than creation of something new, crises can instead be vehicles for restoring the order of the past. This article examines the case of asylum‐seeking unaccompanied minors in Sweden, where drastic changes have been made in the aftermath of the perceived "migration crisis" of 2015. Employing historical institutionalist theory, it examines decades of Swedish migration policymaking through analysis of state inquiries, law proposals and court rulings. It argues that the changes introduced 2015 were not qualitatively new, but rather a result of long‐simmering tensions. These tensions lie between state attempts to control migration, particularly of "unidentifiable" individuals, and the rights accorded to migrants. The article shows that Sweden's migration framework of bounded universalism has gradually been altered by tools that categorize migrants, with implications for migration policy as a whole.

AbstractDrawn from 14 educational policy documents and 26 interviews with educators of internal migrant children in China, this paper examines the design and implementation of educational policy for Chinese internal migrant children in the past three decades through the theoretical lens of social justice. Taking Guiyang city as the focus, this study demonstrates that educational policy and provision for migrant children are part of an evolving process impacted by interrelations between issues, such as the hukou system, (lack of) government funding and tensions between central and local governments. Although migrant children increasingly have access to improved opportunities, their outcomes remain poor relative to their peers from urban areas. New policies aiming to mitigate the disadvantages of migrant children are needed.

The state of class consciousness of working-class children in China has received scant attention in the scholarly literature. This study examines the class consciousness of rural migrant children as they are about to join their migrant parents and become "China's new workers." Qualitative investigations were conducted in two primary schools in Beijing. Focus group and individual interviews were held with 87 fifth- and sixth-grade migrant children in the two case schools and 324 valid student questionnaires were collected. The findings reveal that migrant children are aware of the unequal class relationships suffered by migrant workers; however, their interpretations of class-based injustices exhibit false consciousness, shadowed by individualism, meritocracy and the duality of images. Family and school may play vital roles in shaping migrant children's class consciousness. (China Q / GIGA)

AbstractThe state of class consciousness of working-class children in China has received scant attention in the scholarly literature. This study examines the class consciousness of rural migrant children as they are about to join their migrant parents and become "China's new workers." Qualitative investigations were conducted in two primary schools in Beijing. Focus group and individual interviews were held with 87 fifth- and sixth-grade migrant children in the two case schools and 324 valid student questionnaires were collected. The findings reveal that migrant children are aware of the unequal class relationships suffered by migrant workers; however, their interpretations of class-based injustices exhibit false consciousness, shadowed by individualism, meritocracy and the duality of images. Family and school may play vital roles in shaping migrant children's class consciousness.

AbstractMore and more migrant parents choose to bring their children with them to their migration destination in China. Here, the data reported by China's Health and Family Planning Commission in 2017 are used to examine the influence of migrant children on migrant mothers' employment. The results showed that migrant children have a negative effect on mothers' employment and reduce wages of mothers who are work. In addition, considering migrant children's age, we find that as it increases the burden of childcare is lighter; the probability of mothers' participation in the labour market and receiving a high wage is higher. Furthermore, in terms of mothers' characteristics, older age and better education, having a spouse or parents who migrated, longer migration history and an across‐provincial move have positive effects on migrant mothers' employment.

Using a large dataset from the China Educational Panel Survey (CEPS) of 2013–2014 (n=1,593), this paper identifies possible reasons that affect the academic achievement of students in grades 7 and 9 who come from migrant families, and explores whether schools with high teaching quality can remedy disadvantages of low socioeconomic backgrounds. Results of regression analyses show that, against common wisdom, we found that neither family finance nor father's occupation significantly influence student academic performance. In addition, school type, either public or private (including special schools for children from migrant families), did not have significant influences on the achievement of those migrant children; only school ranking did. We conclude that public school resources cannot remedy the disadvantages of family background of migrant children, and migrant children do replicate the fate of their parents.