Officials in Beijing have closed two dozen schools for the children of migrant workers, leaving many with nowhere to go to learn.
State media said some 14,000 children in three districts of the capital were affected.
The BBC reports that officials said the schools had not met safety standards or were unapproved.
Under the Hukou (household registration) system, migrant workers remain registered in their home towns even if they move to the city to work.
Without a ''city'' registration, they do not have access to some state-subsidised services, such as health and education.
So the children of migrant workers often have to attend cheap, privately-run schools, some of which have not been approved by the authorities.
Xinhua news agency said 24 schools in Beijing's Haidian, Chaoyang and Daxing districts had been closed just before the start of the new term.
Education officials told Xinhua that the schools were closed because they did not meet official standards on construction, sports facilities and other safety issues.
