Paying attention to the crowding out effect of tuition burden on peasant workers ' life

Bingqi According to media reports, Chongqing people Chungliang 1989 years to work in Shanghai, so far 22 years, the first Spring Festival every year by ship home for the Chinese New Year.　　1998 after the ship stopped, until the 2010 12 years, the Chungliang only in 2002 to think of children think of the sleepless nights when home after a year, so that the 2008 son to Shanghai to visit their parents, Chungliang couples unexpectedly mistaken. This sample makes people sigh. This news lets many people see the peasant laborer return to the Spring festival difficult, "often go home to see" The good wishes, not want to do can do.　　And I read from the Chinese tens of millions of left-behind children's realistic predicament. The number of children left behind in the country is about 58 million, with more than 40 million left-behind children under the age of 14, the People's Daily reported December 22, 2010. Currently, left-behind children account for 28.29% of the total number of rural children, that is to say, an average of four rural children are left behind. Among them, 0~5周岁 rural left-behind children accounted for about 1/3 of the country's rural peers, concentrated in the Midwest population of large provinces. According to the survey, Sichuan, Anhui, Henan, Hunan, Jiangxi, Guizhou, Guangdong, the 7 provinces of rural left-behind children in the number of more than 1 million, the total of pre-school left-behind child is close to the national total of 2/3 children left behind. According to the survey, more than 80% of the left-behind children were monitored by their grandparents, or temporarily by relatives and friends.　　The guardianship situation is worrying and vulnerable to accidental injury. For these left-behind children, the public opinion called on the parents to work out often care for their children, often keep in touch with their children, create more opportunities and children together, or the child with the side.　　To be honest, parents, if they have this condition, will do so, without public opinion to appeal. What we see is, for most of the peasant brothers who go out to work, every penny is cherished, and I wish to break into two points. They will try to put the money to the best use, rather than do unnecessary "waste." Like the Chungliang couple in the news, is doing such a calculation: In recent years, his monthly income of two thousand or three thousand Yuan, wife monthly income of seven hundred or eight hundred yuan, monthly rent 200 yuan, eat and drink and other living expenses 1000 yuan, the family daughter on High School, the monthly living expenses to 500 yuan, tuition fee of one year remission half also want 1000 yuan. His son spent the first few years of college living and tuition is also a large amount of money, except that there is not much left.　　Back to a trip home, the couple on the road train and car tolls to more than 1000 yuan, think of the better to save to the child. Some people think that this is the fact that they don't pay attention to their children, they can completely squeeze the money, go home to their children, or let their children come to town on vacation, just because they don't see it very seriously.　　From the angle of the city, this kind of thinking may be correct, however, if you can stand in the perspective of migrant workers, you will find that the basic survival problem is not resolved before the consideration of emotion, for many migrant workers, is really a luxury. Even more impressive, Chungliang ShanfWomen's income in the city does not seem particularly low, the two add up to one months have more than 3,000 yuan, and their days are so tight, even the new year back home is difficult, this is the heavy burden of education in our country. For many migrant workers, they are expected to earn some money and be able to read as a city dweller. The money earned, in addition to the maintenance of their own lives, often can only provide for the children's tuition (compulsory education free tuition, there are all kinds of delivery of children to the training courses of costs, guidance materials costs).　　For many migrant workers, the money they earn over the years is handed over to the transport sector and the education sector and cannot improve their lives. The problem of left-behind children highlights the uneven development of China's region, this problem is difficult to solve in the short term, there are also problems of unbalanced educational opportunities and overweight education, which can be changed through the efforts of government departments in a short period of time, especially the problem of excessive education, so long as government departments increase their input,　　Reducing the proportion and amount of education cost of secondary school students can greatly relieve the pressure of all families to send their children to study, and adjust their expectation of future life, especially the rural families. Based on the current standard of college tuition, families like Chungliang have half of the money saved throughout the year to pay for a college student's tuition and living expenses.　　In developed countries, the ceiling for tuition fees does not exceed 20% per cent of the average disposable income of the population, so as to ensure that educational expenditure does not produce an crowding out effect on other normal life.　　In addition, if the government to increase investment in education, so that the quality of rural education, the cost of learning to reduce, those who make money for children to go to school, migrant workers, may be another plan to choose to live in the local, so that the proportion of left-behind children may also be significantly reduced.　　Back in 2006, China's education sector has stated that to account for the cost of higher education, to establish a reasonable cost-sharing mechanism, but after five years, the cost of higher education has not been accounted for clearly, although, in the meantime, the state perfected the policy of student loans, but high university tuition, or become a heavy burden on many families In addition, non-compulsory high school and pre-school education, also make many families overwhelmed.　　A little better is nine years of compulsory education exempted from tuition and fees, but in some areas, while free, arbitrary charges on the situation is also very serious, including school choice fees, borrow took fees and donations for student fees.　　The essence of education is to make everyone live happier, in the face of the peasant workers squeezed out of the "happy life", I think that the relevant departments should actively take, and effectively reduce the burden of education. (The author is deputy dean of Shanghai 21st Century Institute of Education)