下面這則，是人權組織Human Right Wach 9月27日電子報上的消息。
好像HRW的網站也被GFW檔下，所以我把內文都貼上來吧。
China: Beijing Closes Schools for Migrant Children in Pre-Olympic Clean-Up
(New York, September 25, 2006) – Over the past two weeks, Beijing
municipal authorities have shut down more than 50 schools for children of
migrant workers, Human Rights Watch said today. The schools' closure –
part of a campaign to close all unregistered schools for migrants by the
end of September – threatens to leave tens of thousands of children
without access to education, in violation of several of Beijing's obligations
under international law.
The campaign, which began four months ago, appears designed to
discourage migrants from staying in the capital. In mid-September, city
officials discussed expelling a million migrant laborers from Beijing for
the duration of the Olympic Games.
"Beijing is spending over $5 billion to prepare for the 2008 Games, yet at
the same time it's denying a basic right to migrant workers' children, most
of whom are unable to access state-run schools," said Sophie Richardson,
deputy director of Human Rights Watch's Asia Division. "Beijing appears
to be moving 'faster, higher, and stronger' toward limiting – not ensuring
– migrant children's access to education, all in the name of the
Olympics."
On July 12, 2006, the Beijing Municipality issued the "Notice of the
General Office of the Beijing Municipality People's Government on the
Work of Strengthening the Safety of Non-Approved Migrant Population
Self-Schools." That document set a deadline of September 30 for the
"clean up and rectification" of all unregistered schools through "dispersion,
standardization and closure." According to the document, 239 unregistered
migrant schools in Beijing provide education to more than 90,000
children.
In some cases, the Beijing authorities have dispatched large numbers of
police to close particularly popular schools. On August 29, more than 90
policemen forced the evacuation of the Weimenkou school of Shijingshan
district. Petitions to the Beijing Commission on Education, signed by
hundreds of parents in support of certain schools and denouncing the
brutality of the closures, remain unanswered.
The Beijing government has justified the wave of closures on the grounds
that many migrant schools are unregistered and substandard. They quoted
the lack of qualified teachers, inadequate or dangerous facilities, and
noncompliance with hygiene regulations. However, school operators say
that the authorities arbitrarily refuse them registration or impose
unreasonable conditions, such as possession of half a million yuan, about
US$63,000, effectively preventing them from gaining legal status.
The director of a school closed last month, which had served about 1,000
students, told Human Rights Watch, "All of this is because of the
Olympics. They close the schools not because the schools are no good, but
because they do not want this to attract further migration to Beijing. Of
course I have applied for a permit to the government, but they never give
it to you. Above all, they want to control and limit the development of
these migrant schools."
While governments have the right to license and regulate schools, China's
international legal obligations require it to provide all children with an
adequate and nondiscriminatory education. China may not arbitrarily deny
education to children of migrant workers.
"The reason self-run migrant schools exist is precisely because the
government has failed to provide free and compulsory education for all as
it is obligated under domestic and international law," said Richardson.
"Before closing down the only education to which migrant children have
access, the government should guarantee their ability to enroll in state-run
schools."
Although the newly revised Compulsory Education Law, which came into
effect on September 1, states that children of migrant laborers must be
enrolled in local state-run schools, in reality administrative and financial
hurdles bar most migrant children from enrolling.
Under Beijing education bureau regulations, only registered migrants who
can produce the "five certificates" – a temporary residence permit, work
permit, proof of residence, certificate from the place of origin, and
household registration booklet – can enroll their children in state schools.
An estimated 90 percent of migrant families do not have all five
documents.
Even for those who can obtain the necessary documents, the cost of state
schools can be prohibitive for poor migrant families. State schools may
charge for transportation, meals, books or activities. Only 62 percent of
the estimated 370,000 children of migrant worker families living in
Beijing attend state-run schools.
On September 15, Science and Engineering University Professor Hu
Xingtou and Beijing Duanfeng Practice Lawyer Li Fangping submitted to
the Beijing municipal government a report that concluded, "On the face of
it, it seems that all the … schools of Beijing have opened their doors
unconditionally to migrant children. But the reality is entirely different ...
The dream of equal access to compulsory education remains as distant as
ever."
"The Chinese government should ensure that all children have access to
education by removing administrative and financial obstacles to school
enrollment, and that migrant children whose schools it has closed are
immediately enrolled in other schools," said Richardson.
For more of Human Rights Watch's work on China, please visit:
http://www.hrw.org/doc?t=asia&c=china
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