Left-behind children are those left alone or in the care of elderly relatives in the countryside, while their parents are forced to move to cities to work. (Photo : www.news.xinhuanet.com)
The China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation is set to hire and train 100 women from local villages who will take the role as substitute mothers and take care of left-behind children, China Daily reported.
According to the report, 100 villages across Sichuan Province will be selected under the program. One woman will be hired in each village and she will take charge of all the local left-behind children.
The report said that approximately 35,000 children will be supervised by the program, which was launched by the nongovernmental organization in late October.
"It is a model to solve the problem of left-behind children," Liu Wenkui, secretary-general of the foundation, said. "The program aims to solve the lack of guardians. If parents are forced to leave home to earn a living and unable to take their children with them, we are looking for a transitional way to solve the problem.
Under the program, the "substitute mothers" will fulfill the obligations of parents, find out what the children need and help them deal with problems.
Wen Huifang, the project manager, said that each substitute mother will be tasked to take care of about 300 to 500 children while focusing on the 50 to 70 children who need her attention most.
The report said that the "children's home" will be established in each village, which will become the substitute mother's office and children's activity space.
Offices will also be set up in each county to gather information from the "mothers" and help them to solve issues with government departments.
"Their job will be to provide prompt service, discover the children's issues, report to the relevant departments and help to solve any problems," Wen said.
Wen added that the substitute mothers' role will be limited, but they will be supported by officials from the villages and the county, as well as an expert team.
The program is expecting to recruit women from the villages, who are aged 19 to 55 years old and must have no criminal record.
"We want to hire full-time 'mothers' to guarantee they won't be distracted by other work," Liu said. "We want local candidates because they understand local languages and cultures."
In August, police discovered the bodies of two left-behind siblings who were killed at their home in Bijie, Guizhou Province. The girl had been sexually assaulted before she was murdered, according to the police.
"Left-behind children's tragedies may hit the front pages of newspapers for a few days, but when the stories go cold, people's attentions shift," Liu said. "The key to solving the problem is to establish a model to help them and prevent such tragedies."
Liu said the program in Sichuan Province is a pilot scheme, and if it is successful, the model will be promoted nationwide.
