Migrant workers in Beijing are being encouraged to take free
books for their children when they head home for the Spring
Festival that falls on February 18.
Last month an open letter was issued to encourage Beijingers to
donate books. This is part of the campaign five government
departments launched in January to offer migrant workers free
books. It is an effort to help rural children left behind by their
parents.
The government departments, including the Publication Bureau of
the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee and Beijing
Press and Publication Bureau have donated some 110,000 books. The
books are a sound investment in rural children.
A report from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences revealed
that the number of migrant workers reached 140 million in 2005. As
a result, more than 20 million children remained in their hometowns
when their parents left for cities to make a living. Studies found
that many of these children feel lonely, do not perform well in
school and play truant.
Living a hard life in cities, migrant workers cannot afford
books as presents for their children back home. Both in the city
and the countryside, reading is increasingly unpopular among
children. City children are tempted by TV programs, video games and
the Internet while their peers in rural areas lack books. These
children have yet to benefit from the proliferation of excellent
books.
Hopefully, the ongoing campaign in Beijing will change things
for the children who are struggling most.
Encouraging migrant workers to take books home helps send the
message to their children that books are a key to their future.
This matters not only because children who are keen on reading
can look forward to the lifelong pleasure of reading, but because
loving books is an excellent predictor of future educational
success.
The government has vowed to help the rural children left behind
and the Beijing books are just one small part of the national
concern.
One project, which seems to have only a slim chance of success,
involves creating clubs for rural children to play with surrogate
parents. Perhaps if the joy of reading can be part of the plan, it
may offer some hope for improving the future of our migrant
workers' children. They are part of China's future.
(China Daily February 8, 2007)