The Ministry of Civil Affairs has launched a year-long program to train "directors" in charge of left-behind children in villages and townships and disseminate information on state policies for the children to improve their care.
Ten years ago, a demonstration project on Chinese children's welfare was jointly initiated by the ministry, United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund and Beijing Normal University, covering 120 villages. The system of children's directors was developed at that time.
The directors are generally teachers in kindergartens and primary schools. They are asked to take responsibility for the children and their education by regularly visiting them at their home and collecting information about their welfare and their families. Today, there are 663,000 children's directors in villages and townships.
According to the ministry, by the end of August 2018, there were 6.97 million left-behind children in rural areas whose parents were migrant workers engaged in cities. This program was designed to guide such children, especially those in difficult situations, to improve their awareness and their protection.
Besides welfare policies and laws, the directors need to have a knowledge of family education so that they can guide parents and other guardians in rural areas to support children's development.
(This is an edited excerpt of an article originally published in Guangming Daily on June 8)
(Print Edition Title: Left-Behind Children's Care)
