New guideline offers better mechanism to help left-behind children

An improved mechanism to aid and protect left-behind children in rural areas has been set up to better manage these children's affairs, according to a guideline just released on Monday.

The guideline, jointly issued by the Ministry of Civil Affairs and nine other administrations on education, finance and justice, said that the mechanism covers five-level administrative units - from provincial government to village.

Also, more supervisors - selected from village committee members, college graduates and social workers - are playing active roles in managing children's affairs in rural areas. Their responsibilities are clearly defined in the guideline.

"The supervisors are obligated to record and update information of left-behind children and pay regular visits to the children, learning about their living situation and education," said Ni Chunxia, vice-director with the ministry's Children Welfare Department.

"It's their responsibility to pay special attention to those key groups, such as the disabled kids and those in very poor financial conditions, to get them access to government aid," she said. "And report to the police if the children are in danger."

The community of so-called supervisors on children's affairs numbers 665,000 so far; among them, 45,000 serve in township and sub-district administrative units, while 620,000 are in villages, according to Ni.

"Actually, we hope that the supervisors can be the left-behind children's eyes and mouth to help them identify and solve problems, as well as voicing their needs," she said. "It's admitted that the team is not yet perfect now, but we will step up to offer them more training to enhance their capabilities in the future," she said.

In 2016, the State Council issued a guideline on protecting children in these situations, requiring that a work team on children's affairs should be set up in village-level administrative units.