We Chinese like to call attention to auspicious signs during the celebration of the lunar new year.
But this habit seems to have eluded members of the news media, who can't wait till the end of Spring Festival to renew their forecasts of gloom and doom. Over the past few days, both local and international media have pointed out the potential for unrest and other social problems presented by the burgeoning number of unemployed migrant workers.
The global recession has caused many export manufacturers to go bankrupt, leaving migrant workers without jobs. Nevertheless, hundreds of thousands of workers from rural areas continue to arrive in Shanghai and Guangdong province to seek their fortunes. The economic revival depends in part on helping these workers find jobs.
A colleague of mine went to a job fair in Chengdu a few days ago and met several people from rural areas of Sichuan, who told him they had decided to look for jobs near their homes, rebuilding after the earthquake. Other colleagues report that migrant workers from Henan, Hunan, and Chongqing have had trouble returning to their hometowns. These workers have learned how to manufacture a variety of products on assembly lines, but don't know how to put these skills to use in their hometowns, where there are no assembly lines.
Several provincial governments have pledged to offer free vocational training for young people from rural areas who have lost their jobs in urban centers and have decided to return home.
In Shanxi, the government is even talking about offering sophisticated courses in welding, construction, manufacturing, chemical analysis, interior design, computer operation, sales, and marketing to help young people find jobs close to home.
The media bombardment about rising unemployment has all but drowned out the cries of two rural school teachers from mountainous Qiongzhong county of Hainan island.
Their wish is simple: They hope to have a bridge built across the two rivers that separate their homes from the Dadun Primary School in the rural town of Wanling. They have made this wish public because they hope a new bridge will lure younger and better-educated teachers to the area to teach the 103 village children.
The two teachers have taught at the school for more than a quarter of a century and are nearing retirement. Between them, they carry about 40 young pupils across the rivers on their backs every day.
Wang Shenghong, a villager, said both he and his daughter would not have been able to attend school had it not been for the teachers' heroic efforts.
Even so, quite a number of teenagers have been forced to drop out of middle school because they were not able to make up for the classes they missed during the flood season.
Nor are these the only teachers who have made heroic efforts to enable their students to stay in school. Similar stories are told about teachers in other remote areas.
I hope the country's $586 billion stimulus plan will include funds for bridges linking these remote villages with their schools and with the outside world. The bridges will relieve the teachers of the chore of ferrying their pupils to school and insure that they devote their energy to teaching. In turn, better primary education will enable rural youths to get ahead in school and make the most of their abilities.
E-mail: lixing@chinadaily.com.cn
(China Daily 02/05/2009 page4)
