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Educate the kids left behind

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-03-11 07:48

A special fund should be established for the preschool education of children left behind in rural regions by parents away working in cities, says an article in the Beijing Times. Following is an excerpt:

In recent years, a strong demand has arisen for preschool education for farmers' children, especially as increasing numbers of rural residents have migrated to cities to work, leaving behind a large number of children in rural areas. According to statistics, 15.69 million children aged under five are left behind, accounting for more than 30 percent of rural children of the same age. These kids mainly live in China's midwest.

Two out of three rural kids still do not receive preschool education; half of the 27,284 towns in the midwest have no kindergartens at all except small privately held ones.

So, it's necessary for the central government to set up a special fund for the construction of kindergartens in these towns to boost the development of preschool education and offer chances for those youngsters left behind in the countryside.

(China Daily 03/11/2009 page9)