China: Heavy schooling fees and migrant workers · Global Voices
Meng Zhang

“With the stepped-up developing of industrialization and urbanization in China, there’re more and more rural migrant workers in the cities. Consequently, the question that their children accept compulsory education comes out outstandingly. The report of the 17th CPC National Congress has clearly put forward that the equal rights to accept compulsory education of the migrant workers’ children should be guaranteed,” said Yuan Guiren, Chinese Vice Education Minister, at the CPC press conference last Saturday. Although Mr. Yuan has strongly emphasized the equal education rights for the migrant workers’ children, the tough reality which Netease blogger jzh8434 has depicted still makes some migrant parents worried if they can find an adequate school for their children next term.
这学还能上的起吗？
作者：我等你(jzh8434) 2007-09-19 13:08:39
如果现在说小孩子上学难问题，大家可能都在想，政府已经出台了很多政策对于减免中小学生的学杂费呀，等等之类的措施。所以对于现在上学应该不会有着什么问题，或者说很容易吧。可是事实并不是人们所想象的那样，真是上有政策下有对策哈。说说几件发生在自己身边的事情吧。
去年是我们同事他们为了给孩子找学校，真是费劲心思，找了好多学校结果理由都是一样的，学校不接收外地人，真的是纳闷为什么不收外地人呢？难道外地学生就不能在这读书了，真的是让人费解。最后还是我们部长关系好，拖关系找到一所学校的校长，最校长同意可以去学校报道，那时都已经开学了，因为他们的小孩都是上幼儿园，最大的也才上大班，听说学费是2200块一个学期，好像今年又涨到2400块了，但是本地人好像都没有这么多呀，真的是赚钱的好方法呀。
更郁闷的是今年我们主任的小孩子上小学一年级了，本想着应该没有多钱的学费了，谁知遇上了更大的问题，人家先给他一个账号，先存进去5400拿着汇款单或者转帐单在去学校报名吧，更可气的是回到学校还要签字，好像是关于这5400块是自愿的，应该意思是说不是学校强加性的收费。郁闷谁有毛病呀，没事给你5400还是自愿的，到头来发票都没。据说有的学校都是明码标价有8400块一个人，就那没关系光有钱还是不行地，也许有钱的人真的是多吧。下来在交学费吧又是2000多，这总共下来花了7000多块，和一名大学生一的的学费差不多了，真的是让这些打工者们怎么能承受的起呢？那天和房东无意中聊天聊到这个话题，他的女儿和我们厂同事的孩子在一个学校，我问他女儿报名费多钱，他说连生活费不到1000块，看看这个时候大家都看到差距了吧，外地人要比本地人交这么多钱真的是还有没有天理呢？
以前有借读费这一说，但这些基本都是明码标价，是多少就是多，现在好了借读费国家取消了，可是随之又无形中增加的费用远远高于交借读费的钱，他可以想要多少就要多少了，可以说现在是变更加利的加于这些外来打工者的身上。他们的关念是，现在托关系上学的人多了，他们也不在乎你这一个两个人。所以说费用基本上是学校说多少说是多少，没有可商量的余地。难道这样的问题真的没人管吗？真的是为这些人喊冤呀。也真的希望能有人来管管这些事情。本来学校是教书育人的地方，结果成了某些人赚钱的地方了，而且是赚的是那么地理直气壮和理所当然。
Author：Wo Dengni (jzh8434) 2007-09-19 13:08:39
Now if I talk about the difficulties that children go to school, people might think that the government has issued lots of policies on exemption from paying tuition and incidental fees etc, so there won’t be any problems to go to school, or at least it will be very easy. But the fact is not what people have imagined. It is really that the higher have policies while the lower own ways of getting around them. Let me talk about something happened around me.
Last year it’s our colleagues that looked for school for their kids. They had devoted all their efforts and visited a lot of schools, however, every time they turned them down for the same reason that the school didn’t receive migrants. I was really wondering why they didn’t receive migrants. Couldn’t the migrant workers’ children study here? It’s really difficult to understand. Finally, thanks to our company secretary’s good relation, he pulled strings with a school’s principal. At last, the principal allowed their children to register when the term had begun for a while. Although all of their kids only went to the kindergarten and the eldest one was just old enough to go to the top class, it is said the schooling fees came to 2200 RMB a term and it seemed to rise to 2400 RMB this year. However, it looked the locals didn’t have to pay so much. What a wonderful way to make money!
What’s more depressing, this year it’s time for our manager’s child to go to primary school and he thought the schooling fees wouldn’t cost him too much, but who knew he was faced a bigger problem. At first, the school gave him a bank account number. He had to deposit 5400 RMB in that account and then went to school to register with the money order or the account transfer memo. What’s more infuriating, the school asked the parents to sign an agreement which seemed to prove that the 5400 RMB was a voluntary contribution but not imposed on the parents. Who could be so silly to voluntarily give someone 5400 RMB and even without a receipt in the end? It’s said that some school had given the marked price like 8400 RMB one person, even though without pulling strings you couldn’t make it, neither. In addition to the tuition which was more than 2000 RMB, finally it cost our manager more than 7000 RMB which almost equaled to one-year tuition of a college student. How could we migrant workers afford so much money? The other day I accidently talked about that topic with my landlord. His daughter went to the same school with my colleagues’ children. When I asked him how much of his daughter’s register fees to the school, he said adding the subsistence expense it’s less than 1000 RMB. Now have a look at the difference. The migrant workers had to pay so much money more than the locals; is it ridiculous?
In the past, there’s the so called temporary studying fees (a kind of schooling fees only for the migrants’ children), but almost all of them were marked price which was fixed. Now it’s nice for the government to cancel the temporary studying fees, but subsequently the other new incidental fees have become much higher than the past temporary studying fees because the schools can ask for as much money as they want. We can say the schools have imposed much more schooling fees on the migrant workers now. The school authorities believe there have been a large number of people that have to pull strings to help their children go to school, so they don’t have to care one or two people’s problems. In a word, the schooling fees are all decided by the schools and there’s no leeway that can be discussed. Really there is no one in charge of such kind of questions? I really call for a grievance for the migrant workers and do hope someone can deal with those problems. Actually the school is the place for imparting knowledge and educating people but in fact it has become someone’s tool to make money and it’s so bold and just for them to do that.
The article which was copied from jzh8434’s blog has caused lots of people’s discussions on the Netease’s network community. Here are some of the comments:
作者：guest   2007-09-20 10:40:35
好象不送孩子就毕不了业。为什么每次教改都是成功的，可为什么年年要教改呢？
It seems if you don’t send your children (to the key school), they can’t graduate. If every educational reform was successful, why did the government start educational reform every year?
作者：(gaohongfei007)   2007-09-20 13:36:09
中国的经济发展慢了,福利事业跟不上,在国外上学住院都是免费的
China’s economy increasing has slowed down and the welfare projects can’t catch up. It is all free to go to school and hospital abroad.
作者：(zinsser32)   2007-09-20 17:11:58
现在的孩子生不起啊
Now it’s hardly to afford a child.
作者：穷山恶水(qingshanlushui73)   2007-09-20 17:55:06
…
人生最大的悲哀不在于自身的愚蠢。而在于我们看到了不该看的我们认为不公平的事，又莫可耐何。这才是最大的悲哀。
作者：(wsszzh1a)2007-09-20 21:03:18
【在jzh8434的大作中提到：】
: 如果现在说小孩子上学难问题，大家可能都在想，政府已经出台了很多政策对于减免中小学生的学杂费呀
: ……
政令畅通无阻了吗??????饱汉不知饿汉饥唷!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!有权有钱的哪能体验到?又哪能会去想这些!哪会去触及这类的??只能怪怨没权没钱的~~~~~~~~群落没这能量~~~~~~~~~~来改变这势也!!!!!!!!!!!
【jzh8434 mentioned in the article：】
“Now if I talk about the difficulties that children go to school, people might think that the government has issued lots of policies on exemption from paying tuition and incidental fees”
The policies coming from the top can be carried out smoothly?????? The well-fed don't know how the starving suffer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How can the rich and the official experience it? Or even think about the problems?! Or touch such kind of problems?? You can only complain the group without money and official power can’t change the unhealthy tendency!!!!!!!!!!!
作者：(t.x.j)   ]2007-09-21 15:31:24
【在jzh8434的大作中提到：】
: 如果现在说小孩子上学难问题，大家可能都在想，政府已经出台了很多政策对于减免中小学生的学杂费呀
: ……
非本地生，一般是这样的，毕竞政府资源只能相对当地的而言的。
其实很多家长望子成龙，非要把孩子送到好的学校或是而你户口又不在本地，如果便宜了，大家都来了，那么本地附近的孩子怎么办，政府资源不足，谁来补贴呢？
我们为了自己的利益，别人也要为了自己的利益的。
不管是教育还是什么。
谈论到国家的福利，大家都希望国家的福利无限好，但谁又愿意站出来献出自己的利益呢？
且不说大家的政治热情，就是你们待过且过的态度，个个都想安稳过日子，那么谁出来努力改造社会，让社会进步呢？如果都不愿意那就只有这样过日子了，有时候不是别人骑在我们头上的问题，而是我们愿意让别人骑在我们头上的问题。
唉，不说了。
一句话，人性问题！
Migrants, in general, the government property relatively matches the local conditions.
In fact a lot of parents long to see their sons or daughters succeed in life, so they try their best to send their children to the key school even they are not locals. If the schools only asked a low price to the migrants and all the migrants brought their children here, how would you deal with the locals’ children and who would replenish the government’s lack of resources?
We work for our own interests while others also work for their own interests.
No matter the education or something else,
once related to the national welfare, everybody hopes the national welfare can cater for their needs, but who would like to stand out to dedicate his own interests?
Not talking about everyone’s political enthusiasm, if all of you hold such a selfish attitude and everyone wants to live a easy life, who is willing to reform and develop the society? If everyone is unwilling to, we can only live like now. Sometimes it’s not a question that others ride roughshod over our head, but we are willing to be ridden.
uh-huh, that’s it.
In a word, moral question!
作者：rockszq(rockszq)   2007-09-21 16:11:43
子女教育，医疗保险
就是因为这两大块，中国人才不敢贷款，才不敢花钱。
都消费了，有个万一。。死都不知道怎么死的
Children’s education, medical insurance
Because of the two problems, the Chinese dare not grant a loan, and use money.
If you spend all your savings, in case there’s something unlucky…you even won’t know how to die.
作者：Guest   2007-09-22 12:04:34
现在的教育就是这样了没有办法了啊，也不能怪人家，中国就是这样的，谁说中国法律和规章秩序是很健全的，可实际上是对那些有钱人说的，那些没有钱的人是跟本享受不到这样的待遇的，所以我们只能是任命了，在怎么不说我们是斗不过国家的，
作者：(zb00z)   2007-09-22 19:14:25
我表弟上初中的时候交了３万块．我们是本地户口，学校是本地学校，考是考上了，你交不交呢？你不交后边Ｎ多人拿钱在等，谁叫人家是省重点呢～没办法啊，我上校那会，上初中才１００多块啊～上个大学１年也就８０００块，
社会向钱看，人心向钱看啊！
给个建议，玩（丁克）了，这不～我２５了也不没结婚呢
作者：Guest   2007-09-23 00:09:51
看了你们的大作，触的我也心疼起来了。我也是个打工仔呀。     无奈