Beijing to allow migrant children schooling

Parents renting homes in Beijing will have an opportunity to send their children to local schools under a government proposal that stands to transform the lives of migrant families whose offspring are currently educated in their hometowns. The plan, designed to cool property prices in China’s top cities and avert further pressure on the country’s debt-laden financial system, will remove what is now one of the biggest incentives for migrants to buy rather than rent, the Financial Times reports. Currently migrants working and renting in Beijing lack a local hukou, which enables them to use public services such as health and education. Alternatively, migrants can secure a Beijing school place by buying a home in the capital and meeting other criteria. This has fueled property prices in the capital where prices have risen almost 10% over the past year. But under the draft policy, released last week, migrants renting would be eligible for a school place if they met certain criteria.