教育部：建立留守儿童登记制度

英语自学网

　　A system to register children in rural areas who have been leftbehind by their migrant worker parents will be established toensure they receive compulsory education, the Ministry of Education has said.
        　　China's rapid urbanization has led to a rising number of left-behind children, who have one or bothparents working away from home, leaving them to be taken care of by grandparents or otherrelatives, according to a statement released by the ministry on its website on Thursday.
        　　The number of such children in China stands at 22 million, the statement said.
        　　According to a circular released by the ministry, local governments should improve their care ofleft-behind children in rural areas to make sure such children are not left unattended.
        　　A new registration system will document all school-aged children under the age of 16 that are left inrural areas, to guarantee they receive an education, the statement said.
        　　Yuan Guilin, an expert on rural education at Beijing Normal University, said because of governmentinvestment, the infrastructure at schools in rural areas has seen major improvements in recentyears.
        　　"However, it is still common for left-behind children to drop out of school. It is mainly because mostof them are taken care of by grandparents or other relatives, and they receive less attention andcare," he said.
        　　Yuan said the authorities should make clear that guardians who fail to send children to school will beseverely punished.
        　　Experts said the lack of parental attention and care will lead to various problems for left-behindchildren, posing potential threats to their safety and psychological health.
        　　In November, five children were found dead from carbon monoxide poisoning in a garbage bin, which they had taken shelter in to escape from the cold in the city of Bijie, Southwest China'sGuizhou province.
        　　The fathers of four of the children were migrant workers in Shenzhen, who left the responsibility forraising their children to grandparents or other relatives.
        　　Song Wenzhen, director of the children's division of the State Council's National WorkingCommittee on Children and Women, called for migrant workers to give more care and love to theirchildren.
        　　"Many migrant workers return to their hometown once a year or even every three to five years. They should realize that no one can replace the communication and care that parents can give totheir children," she said.
        　　The circular also urged local governments to improve educational conditions in rural areas, suchas providing safe and nutritional meals for rural students.