In an earlier post I wrote about the closure of a school for the children of migrant workers in Shanghai (an estimated…wait for it….SIX MILLION migrant workers live in Shanghai) one of China’s economic powerhouses. I concluded by wondering about the potential for violent protest. It’s no suprise then that a couple of days after the closure, crowds of parents showed up to protest and scuffles broke out between the demonstrators and police. It’s not clear how badly anyone was hurt–the original report came from a paper in Anhui province, home to many of the migrants working in Shanghai and was necessarily somewhat circumspect. Still the very fact that it occurred only underlines the urgency of addressing the needs of this huge and long suffering chunk of China’s population. Here’s a link to a nicely done AP story that gives some telling detail–like the fact the school was “squeezed between two evil-smelling chemical factories.” Suffer the children indeed….
SDBE.