Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2017, published 107th ILC session (2018)

Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - China (Ratification: 1999)

Article 2(3) of the Convention. 1. Compulsory schooling. The Committee previously noted that, under the Compulsory Education Law, no miscellaneous fees should be charged for compulsory education. It also noted that the National Mid- and Long-Term Reform on Education and Development Programme (2010–20) includes specific compulsory education targets, measures to increase the guaranteed level of resource funds and initiatives to raise the quality of education at all levels. The Government also indicated that inspections were carried out in eight provinces and 19 autonomous regions and municipalities to inspect compliance with the Compulsory Education Law. Subsequently, a report on proposed corrective actions was issued by the State Council, which was then taken into consideration by the Ministry of Education in developing proposed policy measures to further improve compulsory education.

The Committee notes with interest the Government’s information in its report that the Compulsory Education Law was amended in 2015, stipulating that students in compulsory education shall be exempted from tuition fee and miscellaneous fees (section 2). In the same year, the State Council issued the circular on further improving safeguard mechanisms for urban and rural compulsory education funds (No. 67 of 2015), which provides that textbooks shall be provided free of charge and that subsides for living expenses are provided to students from impoverished families. Other policy documents also provide for measures to improve the education conditions in rural areas. The Committee also notes that the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Population Fund and the National Bureau of Statistics of China jointly published a report named “Population Status of Children in China in 2015: Facts and Figures”. According to it, in the 15-year period since 2000, nine years of compulsory education has achieved universal access in general. In terms of gender, girls’ access to education at all levels and their completion of compulsory education is higher than that of boys since 2010. There remains 3.6 per cent of children aged 6 to 17 years who failed to receive or complete compulsory education, of which 61.5 per cent were in rural areas, while 5.4 per cent of children in poverty-stricken areas failed to receive or complete compulsory education, higher than the national average. However, the Committee notes that, according to the Report of the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights on his mission to China of 2017, a recent empirical study suggests that the cumulative average drop-out rates across rural junior high schools range somewhere between 17.6 and 31 per cent (A/HRC/35/26/Add.2, paragraph 54). The Ministry of Education also acknowledged the existence of dropouts in rural schools, emphasising that it only affected the third year of junior high school and only in western China (paragraph 55). Taking due note of the measures taken, the Committee encourages the Government to pursue its efforts to ensure that, in practice, all children have access to free compulsory education, paying particular attention to children from rural and poor urban areas. It also requests that the Government provide concrete information on any progress made and results achieved in this regard.

2. Compulsory education for children of internal migrant workers. The Committee previously noted that various levels of government measures had been taken to ensure that children of migrant workers receive compulsory education. The Government also continued to reform its hukou system to, among others, enhance the integration of migrant children into education and improve the quality of education for these children. The Government stated that it had established a mechanism to guarantee school funding so that migrant children may be included in local education budgets. However, the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) expressed their concern at the de facto discrimination against migrant workers under the hukou system and the increasing disparities in access to and availability of education for their children.

The Committee notes the Government’s information that, in 2016, the State Council issued the Opinion on promoting the reform of integration of compulsory education in urban and rural areas (No. 40 of 2016). It stipulates that, within the framework of the household registration system reform, an admission policy based on residence permit should be established to simplify the enrolment procedures of children of migrant workers and guarantee their equal access to compulsory education. The Government also indicates that, in 2016, out of the approximately 14 million children who migrate with their parents, around 80 per cent of them attend public schools. However, as stated by the Government, in some big cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, due to the discrepancy between the large number of migrant children and limited local education resources, local governments have developed specific admission policies for migrant children, which have prevented a limited number from receiving compulsory education. The Committee also notes that, according to the report of the Special Rapporteur of 2017, during his meeting with the Ministry of Education, an emphasis was put on the enormous challenge of urbanization in China and the fear of “disorderly” migration of students (A/HRC/35/26/Add.2, paragraph 54). The Committee therefore requests that the Government strengthen its efforts to ensure that the children of migrant workers have equal access to compulsory education and to provide information on any progress made and results achieved. The Committee also requests that the Government provide information on the impact of the admission policies on access to compulsory education for migrant children in the abovementioned big cities.