In recent years, the Communist Youth League Committee of Rongshui Miao Autonomous County, Liuzhou City, Guangxi Province has set up a "six-point classroom" in Miaojia Town and Miaomei Community, which are resettlement communities for poverty alleviation in ex situ, and regularly organized young volunteers to carry out activities such as homework counseling, self-care education, and science and technology classroom for young people here, enriching their extracurricular life and helping them better integrate into the new learning and living environment. Xinhua News Agency reporter Huang Xiaobang/photo
Recalling the scene that evening, Wu Fang was still a little scared.
That day, Xiao Qi, a naughty third-grade boy, hit another child. Seeing that their child was beaten, the other parents picked up a stick and pointed it at Xiaoqi, threatening to beat him viciously. Fortunately, Wu Fang arrived in time to protect Xiaoqi.
Wu Fang is the head of a children’s center in Guiyang, Guizhou. The children who come to the children’s center are basically migrant children, and some people call them "children of migrant workers". Most of these children’s parents work in Guiyang, the provincial capital, and the children live with their parents, getting rid of the fate of "left-behind children", but they have become another group that government departments, sociologists and public welfare organizations are highly concerned about — — Migrant children.
The floating children’s groups and public policies in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and other megacities have attracted much attention, and the relevant research is relatively sufficient. In more ordinary cities, the situation of migrant children also needs more attention. Guiyang is a medium-sized city, and the current situation of local floating children may be used as an observation sample.
Fighting is their way of communication.
In mid-February, the wet and cold winter in Guiyang was not over yet, and the air conditioner in the children’s center was blowing warm air, and a pungent smell became more and more obvious. That’s the smell of children.
Most of the children served by this children’s center are rented in the village with their parents. A house with a monthly rent of 300 to 400 yuan has no supporting toilet, only a small public toilet. Some people describe it as "it is difficult to squat down". There are even fewer bathrooms.
Xiaoqi is one of many children in the children’s center. In the children’s center, he often fights with other children, which gives Wu Fang a headache.
But Wu Fang felt sorry for him: Xiaoqi was abandoned by his biological mother since childhood, and his stepmother often beat him. It is conceivable that a child who grew up in this family environment, fighting is his way of communication.
Xiaoqi is not the most special one among the children who often come to the children’s center.
Wen Cheng, the head of a public welfare organization in Guiyang, told reporters that the family environment of many migrant children is very complicated, and it is quite common for parents to divorce. In the most complicated families, both spouses may bring children from the last marriage and give birth to new children. Some families have as many as seven or eight children.
Some children rent in Guiyang with their grandparents, their parents work in other provinces, and grandparents do odd jobs in Guiyang. Such children are called "second left-behind children". Sometimes the old man has something to do and goes back to his hometown, leaving only the children alone in Guiyang.
In such a family, older children have to bear the burden of life early. Some parents require that older children must take their younger brothers and sisters with them if they want to go to the children’s center, or they will take their younger brothers and sisters at home. Wu Fang is somewhat helpless about this. The Children’s Center originally only accepted primary school children, but now it has to take on more responsibilities. Once a kindergarten child wet his pants, Wu Fang had to take care of dozens of children and help him change his pants.
Wen Cheng said that his public welfare organization often comes to some naughty children. Therefore, parents who are strict with their children think that there are too many "bad children" here and their children are not allowed to come. Families with better economic conditions may send their children to interest classes and will not send them to public welfare organizations.
The future of these children can’t help worrying.
A prosecutor engaged in procuratorial work for minors talked about a similar phenomenon to the reporter of Zhongqing Daily and Zhongqing. com: When investigating cases involving minors, it is not difficult to find that parents often quarrel or migrant children from divorced families are more likely to go astray. What’s more, some children who violate the criminal law often lose contact with their parents during the investigation period of conditional non-prosecution.
Some public welfare organizations try to use art to guide children, for example, to increase their patience through painting courses. After years of "training", the children can’t sit still for half an hour at first, but they can patiently paint a picture with oil pastels, and they can also use their imagination to enrich the language of the picture.
Wen Cheng feels that after such careful companionship, children will become gentler in dealing with people and fight less often.
The absence of parents makes them take charge early.
The heavy pressure of life and low educational level make many parents almost absent from their children’s education.
At one time, Lu Lu, a Chinese teacher in a private school, noticed that a girl in her class was late for school for several days. This morning, the little girl didn’t come to school again. Lu Lu called her parents, but I couldn’t get through. Lu Lu found the students’ home and found that both father and daughter were fast asleep. The father said apologetically that he worked late every night and woke up late in the morning, so he couldn’t wake the children up.
A teacher in charge of a private school told reporters that many children in the class have young and playful parents. A student told her that after school, she and her parents played games with their mobile phones. Students often finish written homework at school, while few students can finish oral homework such as reciting ancient poems. Teachers have to supervise them during class.
Due to the lack of parental role, Lu Lu saw the precocity of "the children of the poor take charge early" in children.
In this private school where Lu Lu is located, most students are migrant children of migrant workers. In her opinion, these children have strong self-care ability. Senior children come home from school to help their parents cook and take their younger brothers and sisters to do their homework. If a honeycomb coal stove is used at home, the children should make their own fires. Some scholars found in the survey that some migrant children have to help their parents do business together after coming home from school.
Lu Lu once taught a boy. When visiting the boy’s home, the senior Chinese teacher could only think of the word "the family is surrounded by walls": the boy’s bed has only simple bedding, three children are crowded in one bed, and grandpa sleeps in the next room. There is almost nothing at home except beds, stoves, pots and pans. The child is only in the first grade when he is 10 years old. He doesn’t have lunch at school. He goes home to cook for his younger brother and sister at noon every day.
Letting children participate in more hands-on activities has also become the entry point for some public welfare organizations to help children. Handicraft, farming, cooking and other courses are very popular with children.
In the baking classroom of a private school, there is an oven, a long table and a mobile TV. The aunt in the canteen and the teacher who has received baking training are responsible for teaching the children. Due to the limited space and funds, and many students who want to participate, everyone decided to draw lots. Liu Heng, a fourth-grade boy, was a little embarrassed: "It was my turn for the fourth time."
Under the guidance of the teacher and the aunt in the canteen, several children are divided into one group, which is responsible for pouring, mixing, kneading and baking. Liu Heng likes kneading dough. He said that he enjoys kneading dough into various shapes. In addition to kneading dough, he is also responsible for "supervising" baking cookies in the team. After the dough is sent to the oven, Liu Heng will stay by the oven. Each child can get 10 pieces of cranberry cookies baked by himself. Liu Heng gives some to his good friends, and takes the rest back to share with his father, mother and sister.
A private primary school in Guiyang has held cooking classes for four or five years in a row. Children not only eat snacks and moon cakes themselves, but also sell some of them. Children learn to contact buyers, keep accounts and maintain customers by themselves. At the beginning of the "double reduction" policy, some education experts visited this school and marveled at the rich after-school activities: "I didn’t expect you to be so mature!"
After entering public schools for several years, there is no statistically significant difference between migrant children and local children in their achievements and performance.
An old teacher of a private school told the reporter that some of his former students studied for master’s and doctor’s degrees in famous universities such as Shanghai or Chengdu, which made him quite proud. In the private junior high school where this old teacher is located, almost every year, students are admitted to Guiyang No.1 Middle School and Guanshanhu No.1 Middle School.
Wen Cheng once gave a grant to a migrant child, and the girl’s parents extended their rough hands covered with mud to receive the money — — The couple worked as coolies on construction sites, and their income was not high. In Wen Cheng’s view, "that girl is a real schoolmaster". Many children rely on cram schools to improve their grades, but she has never attended cram schools and was admitted to a good public high school in this district. The girl also likes reading very much, and she reads widely. Once, Wen Cheng’s public welfare organization held a book donation activity, and children could go to a designated bookstore to choose a book. The girl said excitedly, "Great! There are books to read again! "
But such cases are really few and far between.
At the beginning of last year, Guiyang shut down a large number of private schools, and migrant children were diverted to public schools. A few private schools that have been preserved are purchased by the government. The government provides tuition subsidies to students, and students only need to pay a few hundred yuan. For children who are diverted to public schools, Wen Cheng has mixed feelings: public schools undoubtedly have better facilities, higher quality teachers and more extracurricular activities, but he is also worried that children will find it difficult to integrate into new groups or be discriminated against.
Chen Yuanyuan, director of the Research Center for Population Mobility and Labor Market of the Institute of Advanced Studies of Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, has done research. In 2008, all migrant children’s schools were closed in the downtown area of Shanghai, and all migrant children were transferred to public schools in the downtown area of Shanghai. There was a great difference between floating children and local children at that time.
However, a few years later, Chen Yuanyuan’s team made a survey of 11 public schools in Shanghai and found: "In the same school, there is no statistically significant difference between migrant children and local children in terms of academic performance, school performance, being a class cadre, mental health, or teachers’ evaluation of students."
The education of migrant children has a longer-term significance.
Every time after work, Wu Fang always "drives" the children home over and over again. After work that day, Wu Fang had to buy flowers for a child. The school asked to bring flower seeds, but the child told Wu Fang that her mother wouldn’t buy them, and she wanted to ask Wu Fang for help.
Children are very attached to the volunteers in the children’s center. Compared with their parents who are often away from home, the children’s center has become their most familiar and trusted place. Sometimes the children’s center is closed, and children come over the wall to play.
Children’s desire for love is also revealed inadvertently.
Once in an interest class at a children’s center, a naughty boy moved a stool and sat on the platform. Every time the young volunteer teacher said something, he echoed it loudly. The teacher stopped him several times, but he always looked indifferent.
After the class that day, the troublesome boy followed the volunteers closely and begged them to stay a little longer or take himself with him.
There is also a naughty girl who is always laughing and trying to play with volunteer teachers. After class, the young female teacher locked the door. She clung to the volunteer teacher tightly and refused to leave.
Children’s centers have always been short of manpower, and volunteers have been moving frequently. Later in the class, seeing the new volunteer, the primary school girl’s eyes were blank. She repeatedly asked, "Teacher, will you leave us?" Will you always be with us? "
After so many years of contact with migrant children, Wen Cheng also has a deep sense of powerlessness. Many children have a special family environment, and it is difficult to bring them substantial changes only by the strength of public welfare organizations. "I just want to leave some happy memories for the children’s childhood."
At the National People’s Congress this year, Lu Ming, member of Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and Antai school of economics and management distinguished professor of Shanghai Jiaotong University, suggested that the compulsory education law should be amended as soon as possible to ensure that migrant children receive high school education in their parents’ work and place of residence.
He suggested that it is necessary to further promote the central government’s financial transfer payment for education, which should be linked to the number of migrants absorbed by the population inflow areas and the number of children of migrants attending school. Urge the local governments where the population flows to increase investment in education to ensure that primary and secondary education gradually covers the children of migrants.
In an interview with the media, Lu Ming said that the education of migrant children is not only an educational issue, but also has a longer-term significance for the healthy and sustainable development of China’s economy.
(At the request of the respondents, Wu Fang, Xiaoqi, Wen Cheng, Lu Lu and Liu Heng are pseudonyms.)
Zhongqingbao Zhongqingwang reporter Li Yajuan Intern Wang Lian Source: China Youth Daily
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