With the support from the China Population Association, the 8th Forum on Children of Migrants was jointly held by the Institute for Economic and Social Research (IESR) at Jinan University and the School of Education(Teachers College) at Guangzhou University from May 25 to 26, 2024.
The Forum provides a platform for participants to present the latest research findings related to children of migrants with the hope of providing corresponding suggestions and solutions.
Workshop Participants
The event invited experts and scholars from institutions including Peking University, Renmin University of China, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, Shandong University, Jinan University, and Fujian Normal University, practitioners of government officials from the Education and Sports Bureau of Mianzhu City, Shanghai Academy of Educational Sciences, China Association of Social Workers, and frontliners from civil society including Shanghai Non-government Middle Schools and Primary Schools Associates to engage in the relevant sectors.
Professor Kaijun Wu, Vice President of Guangzhou University, addressed the opening ceremony. He stressed that many domestic experts and scholars have contributed valuable experience and knowledge to strengthening and developing Chinese education. Furthermore, he hoped that the academic platform created by this annual Forum would constantly play its advantageous role in promoting knowledge exchange and collision of ideas, improving the research capabilities for children of migrants, and advancing Chinese modernization with support from the high-quality development of the population.
Welcome Speech by Professor Kaijun Wu
After Professor Kaijun Wu’s speech, Professor Shuaizhang Feng, Dean of IESR, highly praised the experts, scholars, educators, and policymakers from all over the country for providing their valuable insights and policy suggestions on the safety, education, and physical and mental health of children of migrant workers for eight consecutive years. At the end of the speech, he hoped that the Forum would further deepen the research on children of migrant workers and promote the implementation of relevant policies.
Welcome Speech by Professor Shuaizhang Feng
The Policy Forum followed the two welcome speeches. Participants from various universities and organizations had in-depth discussions on human capital development, education policies for disadvantaged children, and the status quo and prospects of migrant children's education.
In addition, a new session, Dialogue: County Education, was added to this year’s Forum, starting with a keynote speech by Professor Xiaoying Lin from the Graduate School of Education at Peking University. After the speech, the experts and practitioners, based on their working experience, focused on the difficulties and dilemmas of county education in China and discussed specific and feasible suggestions for breaking the deadlock in this field.
Keynote Speech by Professor Xiaoying Lin
In the third session, the 2023-2024 Annual Report of Longitudinal Study of Children’s Development in Mianzhu (LSCD) was presented by Ms. Jingyi Yuan, Project Manager of IESR Survey Data Center, the Center in charge of the implementation of the project since 2017.
Report by Ms. Jingyi Yuan
Following the report, Mr. Liming Chen, Director of the Education and Sports Bureau of Mianzhu City, delivered a summative speech. He first briefly introduced the situation of Mianzhu education and the children of the migrant population in Mianzhu city. Then, with the theme of New Development of Mianzhu Education, he summarized the implementation of a series of policies and measures for migrant children and left-behind children in Mianzhu City from various aspects, including institutional guarantee, optimized layout, balanced development, and multiple dimensions.
Summary by Mr. Liming Chen
The event was ended by research presentations on the education of children of migrants.
Professor Chengfang Liu from Peking University presented a paper titled “Compulsory Education and Rural Labor Off-farm Employment in China: A Gender Perspective.”
ProfessorJiaying Chen from Renmin University of China presented a paper titled “Perceived Returns and Educational Aspiration: Based on a Randomized Controlled Trial in China.”
Professor Hongliang Zhang from Zhejiang University presented a paper titled "Immigration Quota, Age of Entry and Assimilation of Childhood Immigrants.”
Professor Jia Wu from Shandong University presented a paper titled "School Dropout-age Rainfall Shocks and Firstborn Girls’ Sacrifice of School Opportunities.”
Doctoral student Binglan Wu from Jinan University presented a paper titled "On the Predictive Power of Children’s Time Preferences on Future Cognitive and Behavioral Outcomes.”
Since 2016, IESR has held the Forum on Children of Migrants for eight consecutive years. The exchange of the latest practical experience and research outcomes in the forum, which is highly recognized by the present experts and scholars, provided new perspectives and inspirations for the education research of children of migrants. In the future, IESR will continue to belt with scholars nationwide for educational equity promotion and relevant policy advocacy.
