Education Equity for Left-behind Children

Abstract

With huge increases of population migration from rural areas to metropolitan areas in the process of China’s urbanization, the education issue of rural left-behind children (LBC) has become increasingly prominent and severe. Parents’ high mobility causes large numbers of rural children being left-behind, which has resulted in a series of problems in nurturing LBC, such as poor guardianship and supervision, low academic performance, and so on. Taking into consideration the urban-rural disparities of Chinese education development, the increasing inequality in LBC education has particularly started to plague Chinese compulsory education and society. This paper mainly presents current education conditions of LBC, using empirical data related to children who have been left-behind and examples of education inequity towards LBC. Solutions to some of the problems that surround the issue of LBC’s education equity, including measures that must be carried out by governments, schools, parents and local communities in order to promote LBC education equity are offered. Specific initiatives for the establishment of education support projects particularly tailored to the needs of LBC are proposed.