Guizhou to build 800 nurseries for left-behind children

GUIYANG - Southwest China's Guizhou province is to establish 800 nurseries for "left-behind" children, to ease their psychological problems caused by the absence of parents.

The nurseries, to be built in rural boarding schools, are expected to be completed before the end of 2014, the Guizhou education department said in a statement on Friday. The special homes will provide areas for reading, surfing the Internet and making phone calls to parents, in addition to playgrounds and exercise equipment, the statement said.

The nurseries will help create a better environment for their healthy growth by providing good physical conditions as well as sufficient psychological intervention, the statement said.

The education department will award 20,000 yuan ($3,220) to each nursery that operates well in the future, it added.

"Left-behind" children are those who remain in rural homes while their parents go to work in cities. The children are usually taken care of by their grandparents or other relatives.

According to a report by the All-China Women's Federation in May 2013, the problems facing left-behind and migrant children, including lack of family closeness, security, protection and educational opportunities, have been relieved but have not yet been resolved, and new problems keep emerging.

Guizhou had about 2.4 million "left-behind" children in 2013 thanks to the large number of outbound laborers, a report by the Guizhou Academy of Social Sciences showed.