With the population of migrant workers rising in major cities, the resident permit system has become a hot topic. According to a recently issued provincial regulation in south China's Guangdong province, migrant workers who have lived in the same city for more than seven years with a legal job, fixed abode, and no criminal records, are entitled to receive residency status. Based on this legislation, Guangzhou authorities have relaxed the restrictions even further by allowing the children of migrant workers to also apply for residency status.

But an article in Nanfang Daily argued on Thursday that this policy may not be as good as it seems. It states that although it is a positive thing for migrant workers to receive permanent residency after working in a city for seven years, a house of 80 square meters in Guangzhou can cost a minimum of 400,000 yuan or 57,000 US dollars. Given the exorbitant housing prices, it would be beyond most of the migrant workers to find a fixed abode in their dream city.

Still, the reform aroused some people's concerns that Guangzhou could not afford to extend public welfare to migrant workers, for example, to allow their children to get free compulsory education like those of the local residents. Many people argued that once the policy is implemented, this would invite an influx of migrant workers' children to the cities and significantly increase the pressure on the local educational system. But the Nanfang Daily article believed such views were misleading. It pointed out that the children of migrant workers, as with all children, are entitled to free compulsory education. Migrant workers have contributed to the city's economic growth just like everyone else. Solutions should be found by opening the education system and coordinating all necessary resources rather than tightening the channels for migrant worker's children to receive free compulsory education.