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Household Registration System and the Dilemma of Education Equity in China

Xia Chen

Abstract


The Household Registration System (Hukou) constitutes a fundamental institutional barrier to educational equity in China. This
study presents a critical analysis of how the system, via its urban-rural bifurcation, systematically denies children of migrant populations equal
access to quality education. It elucidates its profound multi-level repercussions: exacerbating socio-economic burdens on families, entrenching social stratification at the societal level, and ultimately constraining national human capital development and innovation capacity. This
paper argues that only through a fundamental structural reform of the Hukou systemdismantling its identity-based resource allocationcan
China achieve the inclusive and equitable quality education championed by the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 4), thereby laying a
fair foundation for its social development and economic prosperity.

Keywords


Household Registration System (Hukou); Educational Equity; Structural Exclusion; Migrant Children; SDG 4

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References


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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.70711/wef.v3i3.7924

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