The educational inequality faced by Chinese rural migrant children in an urban public school

Abstract

Since the beginning of the 21st century, the educational challenges faced by rural migrant children in China have been widely discussed. Previous studies have attributed the poor academic performance of migrant children to the Hukou system, which has historically excluded them from accessing public educational resources in urban areas. Although the Chinese government has gradually relaxed the control of the Hukou system, migrant children still face difficulties in gaining admission to universities. According to the China Rural Education Development Report (2020–2022), in 2021, there were 1.59 million rural migrant junior high school graduates nationwide, but only 584,300 were admitted to general high schools, resulting in an admission rate of just 41.15 %. This statistic underscores the structural inequalities within the education system, as migrant children are disproportionately directed toward vocational education rather than higher academic pathways. This article aims to investigate the relationship between school curriculum and migrant children’s academic achievements by participating into their school life. The finding reveals that school curriculum potentially discriminates against migrant children, effectively excluding them from access to universities in order to maintain social division.