provide means to empower the citizens, which in turn would help strengthen the accountability of service providers.

# **_3.3 Empowering citizens_**

**_Citizens can effectively assist in making service providers accountable and in promoting equity, cost control and quality in public service delivery._** Citizens can also assist in encouraging sub-national governments to implement national policies and standards.  To be able to do so, however, citizens need information (for instance, regarding policies and procedures to utilize public services, appropriateness and quality of services, and so on). They also need voice, including channels for involvement in the evaluation of performance of service providers and local government, in policy development and policy evaluation, and for filing complains and achieving corrective measures on the side of service providers.

**_China can build on the government’s rich experience in promoting public awareness_** . Over the past decades, China’s remarkable success in implementing family planning policies, for instance, involved a very efficient and effective information dissemination facilitated by government agencies at the local as well as central level.  With respect to public services, government agencies in all sectors and at all levels need to be required to actively disseminate information about government policies and promote information sharing and **Box 6 Migrant student records in the United States** transparency about public resource allocation, The US Government created the Federal Migrant Education Program in 1966 with the objective to national and local service standards, provide supplemental educational and supportive administrative procedures, fees, and the quality of services for migrant children.  Consequently in 1969, the Migrant Student Record Transfer System public services. Specific regulations on (MSRTS) was created as a nationwide computerized transparency and information sharing also need to information network to maintain and share education apply directly to all service providers, including and health data of migrant children. The federally funded system operates under a contract between the schools, health facilities, public utilities and US Department of Education and the Arkansas others.  Provincial governments may need to take Department of Education.  From its base in Little Rock, Arkansas, the MSRTS records, maintains, and the lead on developing effective channels to raise rapidly transfers educational and health information citizens’ awareness and ensuring the reliability of on more than 750,000 migrant children across the information provided with respect to public United States. When a child moves, his or her records are forwarded to the enrolling school after MSRTS services.  Furthermore, to address the needs of the receives notification. The school can then concentrate migrant population (and facilitate labor mobility on serving the child's needs rather than identifying those needs. The MSRTS also coordinates with the within China), it would be appropriate for the local and national migrant programs, medical central government to support the creation of facilities, and other entities serving migrants to facilitate continuity of services. record transfer systems, such as migrant children Source: The Migrant Student Record Transfer System registration and student record transfer system. (MSRTS): An Update. ERIC Digest. 1993 (Box 6 explains the migrant student record <u>http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/co ntent_storage_01/0000019b/80/13/d0/57.pdf</u> transfer system in the United States.)

## **Box 6 Migrant student records in the United States**

Source: The Migrant Student Record Transfer System (MSRTS): An Update. ERIC Digest. 1993 <u>http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/co ntent_storage_01/0000019b/80/13/d0/57.pdf</u>

**_Government also needs to be active in facilitating the collection of citizens’ feedback and in ensuring that citizens’ feedback is addressed_** .  The government or specialized agencies could

46