CRC/C/CHN/CO/3-4 (g) Devote more technical, financial and human resources and introduce international standards to improve data quality, disaggregation and analysis, and ensure data availability, transparency and public review in education to improve data quality. 77. In Hong Kong, China, the Committee is concerned about: (a) Bullying in schools and the competitive nature of the school system, resulting in anxiety or depression among children and infringing their right to play and rest; (b) The de facto discrimination against ethnic minority children and racial segregation in the public school system, due to the availability of teaching only in Chinese and the system of government-subsidized “designated schools” for these children; (c) “Cross-border children” who have no access to local schools and are commuting daily to and from mainland China. 78. The Committee recommends that Hong Kong, China: (a) Take measures to address bullying in schools, including with the participation of students themselves, and to reduce the competitiveness of the education system and promote active learning capacities and the right of the child to play and leisure, including by training teachers and providing more social workers and psychologists in schools, and through the sensitization of parents and guardians; (b) Urgently abolish the system of “designated schools” for children of ethnic minorities and reallocate resources to promote their access to education in mainstream schools, including through scholarships or lower entry qualifications; (c) Intensify its efforts to implement legislation and policies on bilingual education at all levels of education, ensuring high-quality education in Chinese as a second language; (d) Ensure access to local schools for all children living in Hong Kong, China. 79. In Macao, China, the Committee is concerned about the dropout of children, particularly pregnant adolescents, from secondary schools. 80. The Committee recommends that Macao, China strengthen its efforts to improve school attendance and retention programmes, especially for pregnant adolescents, and promote quality education to enhance students’ motivation and retention. H. Other special protection measures (arts. 22, 30, 38, 39, 40, 37 (b)–(d), 32–36 of the Convention) Asylum-seeking and refugee children 81. The Committee welcomes the State party’s pledge in 2011 to “endeavour to finally settle the Indochinese refugee issue”. The Committee, however, is particularly concerned that: (a) Children entering mainland China from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea are still categorically considered as economic migrants and returned to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea without consideration of whether there are risks of irreparable harm to the children upon return; (b) Children whose mothers are from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea lack legal identity and access to basic rights, particularly education, as they are not registered under the hukou system out of fear that their mothers would be identified and forcibly returned to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea; 18

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