Jia Yichun, a migrant worker working in Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi Province, feels happy that his children can go to school in the new semester without extra fees.

The local government has been making extra efforts to help the schooling of migrant workers' children, according to local education department sources.

"To date, we have provided help for 198,000 such children, 96 per cent of the total of migrant children," said Zhang Wei, deputy director of the Shaanxi Provincial Education Bureau.

Zhang told China Daily that the government has seen to it that more attention is paid to getting these children into the classroom. The relevant government departments in the province have taken measures to better implement the preferential policies in this regard.

"The latest statistics conducted by my bureau show that 141,000 primary school pupils and 57,000 middle school students from migrant families benefit from the preferential policies," the deputy director said.

"Because we were not local residents, my two kids could not go to school when they came to Xi'an with me three years ago," said Jia, who came from Henan Province.

Jia is working as a stall keeper in a produce market in Xi'an, and his children could not go to school without paying extra fees that did not apply to local students.

"I am very glad to hear the news that my kids will be treated as local students," Jia said.

(China Daily August 23, 2005)