Vocational School for Students of Migrant Workers

This morning, I had the opportunity to visit a school here in Beijing that is specifically for the kids of migrant workers. These are students who's parents are from outside the province of Beijing, and therefore the students have a "hukou" (residence permit) that is not in Beijing and therefore generally have to go to school in their home provinces.  If they do go to school in Beijing, and decide to take the college entrance exam, they must return to their home provinces to take the exam. There is a disadvantage in that because the exam from province to province are different. In addition, these students are the kids of some of the poorest residents of Beijing and often times drop out of school to start working.

The school that I visited today was started by a couple foundations and supported by some embassies to provide vocational training for students who do not have Beijing "hukous." Students are between 16 and 22 years of age and are given free tuition to a two year program. Upon matriculation, they select between four fields, hotel service worker, web page design, air conditioning installation and maintenance and electrician. They spend one year at school with hands on training and then in their second year, they are placed in internships and come back to school a couple times a month to ask questions that they have accumulated while on the job. I was incredibly impressed with the students and their spirit and the quality of the program.

Beijing Century Vocational School for Children of Migrant Workers

The school is completely funded by corporations and by Embassies, such as Ireland and the United States.

The future electricians have all these tools in their classroom on their wall

And the practice on these large electrical machines.

Some SYA students and I were there on Saturday to help the students with their English skills. The English language supplement is a requirement as the American Embassy's money is tied to language and cultural instruction.

I sat at a table with five 17 year old boys (studying to be electricians) who's interest in English was MINIMAL.  So instead I had them show me their classroom.  At this point, they were so excited and you could see the pride they took in their work.

The boys have learned how to fix and install heating systems as well as install video phone technology for apartment buildings.

They also have mastered basic electrical wiring for fixing and installing light switches and the like.  They have so much pride in their work and it appears have so much confidence. They all know that they are going to work for a property management firm and will be working at apartment complexes across Beijing and they are excited to get to start their internships this summer.

"My Boys", from left are Jack from Liaoning, Tim from Anhui, Simon from Hebei, Adam from Anhui and Sam from Hebei.  17 years old with futures that they didn't have a year ago.