Migrant children to be able to sit college entrance exam

Starting next year, the children of migrant laborers in Shanghai will be able to enjoy the same rights to education as local children, according to the municipal government.

Under the new policy, the children of migrant laborers who have obtained temporary residence permits for the city and registered as flexible employees can get an education in the city's primary and middle schools.

The same administrative requirements will applied for migrant children who want to gain entry to the city's vocational schools.

Children of migrant workers will be allowed to attend local kindergartens or receive a high school education if their parents are able to score 120 on a points-based evaluation system, authorities said on Monday.

Normally, those living in Shanghai and other cities will only have full access to education and other services if they are registered on the household registration system for that city — known as the hukou system.

However, under the new rules, children of migrant workers in Shanghai will be given access to the city's schools if their parents obtain the lower level of registration as temporary workers. The move is significant for migrant workers because obtaining hukou registration in a new city is often a difficult or impossible task.

Once they have completed three years of high school study in Shanghai, migrant children will also be allowed to sit the college entrance exam, or gaokao, in the municipality.