The 5th Forum on Children of Migrants was successfully held at Jinan University by the Institute of Economic and Social Research (IESR) on 8 – 9 May, 2021.
We are pleased to have scholars and experts from institutions including the University of Chicago, Peking University, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, Shanghai Academy of Educational Sciences, China Population Association, Shaanxi Normal University and Jinan University alongside government officials and representatives from education system to share their insights on the education for children of migrants and exchange ideas in the two-day event.
The morning session started with a welcome speech from Prof. Shuaizhang Feng, Dean of IESR. Prof. Feng stated that the aim of the annual forum is to provide a platform for academic and policy exchanges, with the hope to promote equality and raise the quality of the education for children of migrants.
Prof. Shuaizhang Feng deliverd a welcome speech
Then, Prof. James J. Heckman from the University of Chicago, the 2000 Nobel Laureate in Economics and the Chair of IESR Advisory Board made a virtual keynote speech entitled Treatment Effects and the Measurement of Skills in a Prototypical Home Visiting Program.He shared with audience the findings of China REACH Program and encouraged Chinese scholars to conduct more research related to early childhood development measurement and intervention in China.
Prof. James J. Heckman delivered the keynote speech
After that, Wenmeng Feng, Researcher from the Development Research Center of the State Council of China talked about the issues faced by the children of migrants under the new situation; Prof. Yaojiang Shi, Dean of Center for Experimental Economics in Education shared his insights on the investment in infant and early childhood development. Kaijun Wu, Vice President of Guangzhou University and Dean of the Institute for Economics of Education delivered a speech regarding the determination of central and regional responsibilities on providing the compulsory education for the children of migrants based on the empirical study in 31 provinces in China. The last speaker was Yingquan Song from China Institute for Educational Finance Research of Peking University, who discussed the scale of returning children and the influence of returning on grade retention.
Wenmeng Feng
Kaijun Wu
Yingquan Song
For the afternoon session, the Policy Forum on Children of Migrants was held, chaired by Prof. Jialing Han, Distinguished Professor of IESR. 11 participants including government officials, scholars and experts in the relevant areas, headmaster of a primary school, representatives of NGOs shared their views on topics such as construction of indicator and evaluation of the impact of the policy of taking high school entrance exam in cities other than the hukou residence, as well as the education of the children of migrants from the perspective of fairness , with the hope to help tackle the critical education problems faced by the children of migrants.
Policy Forum
The policy forum was followed by the presentation delivered by Ms. Jingyi Yuan, field supervisor of Survey Data Center (SDC) of IESR on the results of longitudinal study of children’s development in Mianzhu (LSCD) in 2020. The project has been conducted and managed by the SDC since 2016, the data and the results of which have produced important implications for the establishment of pertinent policies processing with the times. Mr. Shijun Lu, Deputy Director of Mianzhu Municipal Bureau of Education highly appreciated the LSCD Project conducted by SDC in the past 5 years and introduced the local supporting policies towards the children of migrants.
Shijun Lu, Deputy Director of Mianzhu Municipal Bureau of Education
Jingyi Yuan, field supervisor of Survey Data Center (SDC) of IESR
On the morning of 9 May, participants of forum visited Guangzhou Museum of Migrants to know more about the changing situation of the migrants in China since the 1980s.
On the afternoon, the academic workshop of the forum was held in hybrid mode. Scholars and experts presented their latest findings related to children of migrants. Prof. Yuanyuan Chen from the Institute for Advanced Research of Shanghai University of Finance and Economics and Director of Center for Migration and Labor Market Research talked about “Gender Difference in Non-cognitive Skills during Pandemic — Evidence from Elementary Students”. Prof. Shu Cai from IESR delivered a presentation entitled “On the Origin of Cognition: How Childhood Conditions Shape Cognitive Function in Old Age”. Ms. Qinyue Luo, PhD candidate from National University of Singapore discussed about “Test Scores, Noncognitive Outcomes, and Stereotyping of Non-local Students” and Mr. Shukang Xiao, PhD candidate of University of Calgary shared the paper entitled “Land Reform and Child Adoption”.
Yuanyuan Chen
Shu Cai
Qinyue Luo
Shukang Xiao
The Forum of Children of Migrants organized by IESR has been held annually since 2016, which provides an opportunity for stakeholders to present the latest research findings in the relevant areas with the hope to provide solutions to the education problem of children of migrants.
