Free education promised to all in Shanghai
24/02/2010
All school-age children are to be entitled to free education in Shanghai thanks to new government investment.
The money will go towards 22 schools so that around 10,000 migrant workers' children can now attend for free, according to China Daily.
At the moment, 97.3 per cent of the city's migrant children are enrolled in schools and it is hoped this investment will provide education for the remaining 2.7 per cent.
It will make Shanghai the first Chinese city to offer such a structure.
The 22 schools receiving investment have been identified as unable to guarantee the children's security and food safety and will be taken over by suitable public and private institutions before May, said Yin Houqing, deputy head of the Shanghai Education Commission.
The announcement follows an investigation published last month by the University College London's Centre for International Health and Development, which found that the health of Chinese schoolchildren is being threatened by increasing levels of stress.
By Clare Devlin
