Publication Date
5-1-2020
Keywords
poverty, racial inequality, public policy, children, child labor, education
Volume
2020
Abstract
Children in the rural provinces of northern and western China face challenges in obtaining educational opportunities that could aid them in overcoming their poverty-ridden upbringing. These challenges come due to inherent inequalities between the rural and urban regions of China. which stem from a historical diversion of resources from the western to eastern provinces. The factors that specifically affect students and their families as they strive to attend school and gain a quality education are the lack of properly trained and motivated teachers. the high cost of schooling borne by families. the economic inequality of rural and urban provinces, the students' family educational background and home environment. and migration of parents to urban areas. These inequalities lead to students dropping out of school before completion of compulsory education, being unprepared to take high school and college entrance exams, and being bound to poverty in a cycle of unskilled labor. The continual state of poverty for the rural population also hinders China's hope to become a world economic power. Another. often hidden, repercussion is the continual drop out of minority children and the increased cultural stigmatization because of it. The current practices in place to mitigate these barriers to education and resultant premature dropout are the recruitment of short-term teachers. sponsoring students who are more at risk for dropping out or have dropped out. repairing and building schools, and advocating for policy change in the education sector at the local and central government levels.
Recommended Citation
Bradley, Mollie
(2020)
"Elevated School Dropout Rates in Rural China,"
Ballard Brief: Vol. 2020:
Iss.
2, Article 2.
Available at:
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/ballardbrief/vol2020/iss2/2