Editor's note

According to data from the Ministry of Civil Affairs, by the end of the 643th Five-Year Plan, there were 6.<> million left-behind children in rural areas across the country. "Being unattended at home and not worrying about going out" has become a real dilemma for families of left-behind children. How to help these left-behind children grow up healthily touches the hearts of countless people. In response to this problem, Xuanhan County, Dazhou City, Sichuan Province, a major labor export county, made use of the existing school buildings, venues, teachers and other resources of rural schools and the advantages of relatively concentrated students, to establish a weekend holiday boarding school for left-behind children, realizing care services for left-behind children throughout the semester and period, promoting the development of rural education, and making useful explorations for grassroots social governance.

In March, rape flowers from Xuanhan County, Dazhou City, northeastern Sichuan, bloomed from the dam to the top of the mountain, rendering the Bashan Ridge Valley a golden yellow.

It was a Saturday morning, Fu Lingli, a ninth-grade student at Qingping Central School in Qingxi Town, and eight classmates were practicing their words in the calligraphy classroom under the guidance of their teachers. At this moment, Fu Lingli's sister is cutting paper with her partners in the next classroom.

Qingping Central School is a small and beautiful school, with a middle river in front of it, backed by green mountains, and the classrooms, dormitories, canteens, etc. built by "Pujiu" are enough for hundreds of children. Due to the disintegration of townships and townships and the lack of transportation, the loss of students is serious, and there are only 161 students, of which 86% are left-behind children whose parents are working outside the home. Principal Ye Qing thought of many ways to "make a fortune" everywhere, paving the small court with plastic and artificial turf, and hanging calligraphy works by famous artists and students all over the campus. He said: "The children who stay here to go to school should be the most difficult family conditions! ”

In the past, students at Qingping Central School could live on campus on weekdays and go home on holidays. Since the school opened a weekend holiday boarding school last year, the Fu Lingli sisters have made their "home" here.

Fu Lingli said that when she used to go home on weekends, there were only grandparents at home. In addition to cooking, I stay up late to watch TV and play with my mobile phone, and my homework is often not completed. Now on weekends and holidays, you only need to pay a little living expenses, you can complete homework under the guidance of teachers, and participate in rich extracurricular activities with your friends.

"I used to think that it would be good if I could finish junior high school, but now I want to try to get into a good high school." Fu Lingli, who had poor grades in science in the past, has now caught up and has a strong interest in learning. Like the Fu Lingli sisters, 65 left-behind children at Qingping Central School chose weekend boarding school.

Ye Qing said: "In rural schools like ours, weekend and holiday boarding schools can not only reassure the migrant workers, but also allow students to develop good habits, improve the quality of learning, and receive good care and protection." The feedback from students and parents was very good, and the student source was kept, with 6 more students this year than last year. "Weekend holiday boarding schools are bringing new hope to rural education in Xuanhan.

Rural exploration to solve the problem of left-behind child care

Recalling the original intention of creating the "Left-behind Children's Weekend Holiday Boarding School", Zhang Zongzhao, the initiator and organizer of the Xuanhan Left-behind Children's Weekend Holiday Boarding School and executive director of the Xuanhan County Customs Work Committee, had a lot of feelings.

As a major labor export county, 132,28 of the 2.75 million registered population in Xuanhan County, Dazhou City, Sichuan Province, are migrant workers and about <>,<> children are left behind. Protecting and educating left-behind children has always been a major task for the party, government and departments at all levels in Xuanhan County.

At the beginning of 2021, in accordance with the deployment of the county party committee and county government, the Xuanhan County Customs Work Committee, together with relevant departments at the county level, explored a long-term solution to the problem of unsupervised rural left-behind children.

In the investigation and research, the county customs work committee found that because their parents have been working abroad for many years, their ancestors are old and unable to take care of them, many left-behind children are alone, and the "five losses" of academic failure, life management, psychological imbalance, family affection, and safety are widespread, which have become the most worrying thing for migrant workers and the biggest constraint affecting the healthy growth of rural adolescents.

What is the proportion of left-behind children in rural schools? Several schools randomly visited by the reporter gave answers: there were 532 students in Trois-Rivières School and 317 left-behind children with parents outside; Hongwen School in Qingxi Town, 1320 students, 446 students with parents outside; Qingping Central School, 161 students, 138 students with parents outside; Liuchi Central School in Puguang Town, 361 students, 192 students with parents; Puguang School, 1584 students, 342 students with parents outside...

In its investigation, the GWC also found that left-behind children in rural areas who find it difficult to migrate with their parents are divided into various destinations due to different family economic conditions: those whose family economic conditions allow them to enter private schools in cities, live in schools for a long time, and have large family expenditures; Some of them go to towns or county schools, where they are cared for by grandparents or relatives who buy or rent houses; Most of the left-behind children left behind in rural primary and secondary schools are unable or uncared for, which is the most difficult group and needs the most attention.

Xiao Yan, a ninth-grade student at Hongwen School in Qingxi Town, told reporters about her experience. Her hometown was originally in the mountains, and the family gritted their teeth to buy a house in Qingxi Town, and in order to support her and her brother, who went to college, both parents went to Shanghai to work. Since the eighth grade, Xiao Yan has started the days of "little ghosts in charge": staying up late, not eating, playing with mobile phones all night, waking up at night... These are all bothering her all the time.

How to solve such problems? Zhang Zongzhao has led a team to conduct research in some places where left-behind children care projects are carried out, hoping to borrow the "stone of other mountains". However, he found that those places rely on community (village) positions, and new stalls and new personnel are needed, and the children return home and then concentrate in one place to carry out activities for 2 to 3 hours. The large investment and short care time for left-behind children make it difficult to concentrate left-behind children after returning home, children's needs are not addressed, and weekends and holidays also face various risks. Moreover, most of these projects are temporary, have limited impact, lack sustainability, and do not fundamentally solve the plight of left-behind children. The community and township cadres Zhang Zongzhao visited told him bluntly: "We are in a mountainous area, and the area of a village is very large, and it is very difficult for students to gather them after they go home." At the same time, there is also a lack of positions at the grassroots level, where to find a site? It's also hard to find a suitable companion tutor. ”

At this time, an exploration of a school caught Zhang Zongzhao's attention.

Xuanhan County Sanhe School is a rural nine-year school, this roadside school is 11 kilometers from the county seat, and used to have thousands of students. Due to improved transportation and accelerated urbanization, students have been lost, with hundreds of students lost a year at peak times. In order to fight the "defense war" of students, Trois-Rivières School tried its best and finally launched a free boarding system on weekends and holidays. The so-called free boarding is actually only exempt from the student's accommodation, water and electricity expenses, and still need to pay living expenses. Not only did this stop the loss of students, but even some students from other townships and the children of teachers at this school transferred to Trois-Rivières School. This gave Zhang Zongzhao an inspiration: how about turning a boarding school for all students into a school dedicated to serving left-behind children?

Yes, use the existing rural primary and secondary schools to create weekend holiday boarding schools that care for left-behind children throughout the semester and at all times! In this way, it is not only possible to use the facilities and equipment and teachers of rural schools, but also to facilitate the organization of left-behind children to participate nearby.

Zhang Zongzhao found the principals of three schools, including Sanhe School, Xinhong Central School, and Hongwen School in Qingxi Town, and hit it off with them: in these three schools, they launched a pilot project of creating weekend holiday boarding schools for left-behind children. The GWC coordinates with relevant departments and caring enterprises to give each school a fee, first, to improve the necessary infrastructure, such as boarding rooms, warm indoor activity venues, bathing facilities, etc.; Second, appropriate subsidies will be given to teachers who have given up their statutory holidays to tutor and accompany left-behind children; The third is to coordinate with the labor department to give 3 to 3 public welfare positions in each school, hire child companion mothers, and take care of and manage the living of left-behind children.

In April 2021, three weekend holiday boarding schools were established to care for left-behind children on a full-semester basis.

Small investment, large benefits, from pilot to county-wide promotion

On weekends, Hongwen School in Qingxi Town is still lively. At half past seven in the morning, Yan Qingxiu, the child's companion mother, urged the children to get up, wash and exercise early. "My children are also in the third year of junior high school here, and it is a blessing to be able to accompany and take care of these children." Yan Qingxiu revealed her original intention of being a child companion mother to reporters, and in her eyes, every student is full of vitality and hope.

On Saturday mornings, a dedicated tutor helps the children with homework and questions in the classroom.

What really excites the left-behind children is the afternoon. At this time, sports venues such as basketball and football, handicrafts, calligraphy and other activity venues, libraries, chess rooms and other cultural spaces are all open, and students can freely participate according to their interests and hobbies. In the evening, the "Family Communication Time" is specially opened, allowing children to talk to their parents thousands of miles away in the communication room.

With near-round-the-clock, "nanny-style" input, can rural schools withstand such additional burden? Luo Xianjun, the principal who has been teaching for 26 years, said.

Nearly 34% of students at Hongwen School in Qingxi Town whose parents are migrant workers, and 78 students currently choose weekend holiday boarding school. Caring for these students is not only the demand of parents, but also the need for good education and teaching.

On the basis of the success of the pilot, the Xuanhan County Party Committee and County Government issued special support documents in a timely manner: establish a guarantee and incentive mechanism, mobilize social participation, such as determining the funds to be given to each school to improve the necessary facilities, but also give each school budget operating expenses, and at the same time give each school 1 to 2 public welfare posts to hire school companion mothers, cooks, security guards and other personnel. In particular, school leaders and teachers who have made remarkable achievements in accompanying and counseling left-behind children who have sacrificed statutory holidays are given preference in the selection of merit, professional title evaluation, and cadre selection.

Luo Xianjun said that because the school uses existing personnel and equipment, the start-up cost is very small. There are nearly 100 teachers in the school, and about one-third of them are willing to join the duty team. Although there are not enough teachers who have expertise in carrying out various cultural and sports activities, the dedication of teachers makes this work work.

"Actually, this work does not cost much money!" Luo Xianjun said that as far as students and parents are concerned, weekends and holidays only pay 15 to 20 yuan per day for living expenses, excluding winter and summer vacations throughout the year, according to 88 days, the average student expenditure ranges from 1320 yuan to 1760 yuan, and the burden on parents has not increased much; For students with special difficulties, the county customs work committee also solves the problem through various funding channels. Hongwen School needs 8 to 12 teachers on duty every week, and the operating cost does not exceed 10,80 yuan a year. According to this calculation, to achieve full coverage of about <> rural schools in the county, the overall investment is still affordable.

Zhang Zongzhao said that the current renovation fee of 3,6 to 14,1200 yuan per school for left-behind children on weekends and holidays is mainly used to improve necessary facilities such as dormitories, bathrooms, canteens, and indoor activities. Therefore, in the past two years, a total of <> weekend and holiday boarding schools for left-behind children have been established, and nearly <>,<> left-behind children have received full-semester, full-time, all-weather care and protection.

The reporter learned that it is expected that by 2025, Xuanhan County will build 80 weekend holiday boarding schools for left-behind children, covering rural schools with conditions and needs in the county. So that more left-behind children can receive the best and most comprehensive care in the nearest place.

Promote the care of left-behind children into a new stage of institutionalization

"What did you gain from the weekend holiday boarding school?"

Faced with such a question, Yan Chengtong, who was in the first class of the eighth grade of Puguang School, had already had an answer. With Weekend Holiday Boarding, extracurricular life has changed dramatically.

"Now I am no longer alone in my weekends and can spend happily with my classmates. Playing badminton, basketball and other activities are things that I usually dare not think about at home. I love this life and learn a lot. Yan Chengtong told reporters happily.

"Boarding school is not a repeat of the content of the school, let alone a make-up class for students!" Since its establishment, Zhang Zongzhao and the principals have agreed on their thinking: to care more about left-behind children and make up for the lack of family education with sincere companionship. He said: "We also need to guide parents to take responsibility as much as possible!" ”

It is precisely for this reason that left-behind children are strictly prohibited from giving classes to students on weekends and holidays, but are fully engaged in activities such as life care, interest care, psychological care, and safety care.

There are concerns about whether rural students have less practical exercise by keeping students in school longer. In fact, all left-behind children's weekend holiday schools devote a lot of energy to students' practical activities, not only the daily work such as laundry, tidying up the dormitory, cooking, etc., but also practical activities such as social investigations. In Puguang School, there is a special hillside, and each class has a "private plot". In his spare time, the teacher will lead the students to turn the ground, fertilize, water and plant vegetables. Last year, the eighth-grade students had a bumper harvest growing vegetables, and the income of more than 1500,<> yuan made the students excited for a long time.

Li Xianchun, principal of Liuchi Central School in Puguang Town, concluded that after boarding on weekends and holidays, students have a regular life, and the situation of dozing off in the morning does not exist; Students have more time to study and generally improve academically; The communication time with teachers and classmates has increased, and everyone's personality has become more cheerful; Rich activities and exercises make children physically stronger.

"In the past, we worried about whether students living in school for a long time were estranged from their parents and families. But in fact, because we have a fixed system for children to communicate with their parents, and teachers provide guidance in all aspects, left-behind children understand the difficulties of parents better and know how to be grateful! Li Xianchun said.

Parents couldn't help but be overjoyed by the changes to the left-behind children in boarding schools during the weekend holidays. The mother of Peng Xiaoyu, a student at Three Rivers School, said: "This is really a good policy, the only thing we can worry about going out to work is the children, and the boarding school has dispelled our concerns." ”

Gong Xinyu, a parent at Hongwen School, said: "The school has taught children to do laundry and cooking, and they are no longer babies who can't do anything when they go home. My son has changed a lot in the past two years, he knows how to be grateful, and he understands that it is not easy for his parents to work outside the home to make money. ”

From its establishment to its steady promotion, weekend holiday boarding schools have achieved the satisfaction of left-behind children, migrant workers, schools and society. At present, Dazhou City has decided to build no less than 10 weekend holiday boarding schools for left-behind children in each district, city and county this year, with funds included in the financial budget, and personnel and management coordinated by local education departments. This means that the long-term normalization of solving the problem of unattended rural left-behind children has entered the stage of institutionalization of local governments.

Observe and think

Based on the present, what is the significance of the pilot weekend holiday boarding school for left-behind children in Xuanhan County, Sichuan Province? The survey found:

First, use ingenuity. On the basis of the past practice of many government departments and social organizations in caring for left-behind children, summing up experience, identifying pain points, and improving them, a feasible plan was finally formed that relied on the facilities and equipment of existing rural schools, the existing rural teacher team, and the organizational and operational capabilities of schools, which better solved the difficult problems of how to organize, who to implement, and how to orderly and long-term effect of caring for left-behind children.

Second, practice is practical. The establishment of weekend and holiday boarding schools for left-behind children is not simply to "circle" left-behind children, but to carry out various actions such as learning, social practice, and psychological care in combination with the actual needs of children, which has largely solved the problems of loneliness, timidity, fear of communication, and psychological obstacles that prevailed among left-behind children in the past, and promoted the healthy growth of left-behind children. Many pilot schools reported that through careful accompaniment, left-behind children have closer ties with their parents and stronger practical ability. Schools, parents, students, and society all praised this initiative.

Third, it has achieved great results. This approach proceeds, makes use of existing resources, does not spread out stalls, does not increase manpower in large quantities, and local financial resources can afford it; At the same time, the school does not have a big package, and by collecting the necessary living expenses of students, parents can remember their responsibility for the upbringing of left-behind children, forming a clear social orientation; In addition, the service for left-behind children is combined with incentives such as teachers' evaluation and promotion to form a positive incentive for teachers. This exploration balances local financial resources and parental responsibilities to find a sustainable way to care for left-behind children.

(Guangming Daily reporter Li Xiaodong Zhou Hongshuang)