School segregation and education for internal migrant children in Chinese kindergartens

This study reviews the current state of education for internal migrant children in urban China. In recent years a considerable literature in China has accumulated to reveal that the education of rural-urban migrant children in... [ view full abstract ]

This study reviews the current state of education for internal migrant children in urban China. In recent years a considerable literature in China has accumulated to reveal that the education of rural-urban migrant children in urban settings remains segregated predominantly in migrant kindergartens, while migrant students with high socioeconomic status have mainly become integrated with urban students in public kindergartens. This paper is concerned to elaborate school segregation and its influence on school outcomes of migrant children, through comparing academic indicators which characterize school performance of migrant students in segregated schools, in contrast to students enrolled in integrated schools. Extrapolations from the relevant literature exhibit that school segregation has caused an increasing gap in school outcomes, psychological well-being, as well as their access to better education between migrant students in segregated schools and integrated schools. The implications of these disparities and inequities are discussed, with an aim to encourage policy makers to recognize that reform of the segregation patterns for Chinese migrant students is clearly imperative.