This article explores informal science education (ISE) for rural migrant children in the Chinese context. Many of them are restricted from the public schools due to political exclusions enforced by the household registration system and their economic standing. As a result, they are often enrolled in quasi-legal migrant children schools with limited access to education in science. In response, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have stepped in to implement ISE projects. Applying gift exchange theory to organized non-profit undertakings, I examine three types of ISE programs and their ways of reinforcing a neoliberal logic of competition, selfresponsibility and self-governance. © 2016 Taylor & Francis.

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