China is developing rapidly, but the economic development is uneven - some areas faster than others. In this process many young people - due to the economic situation in many poor rural areas - opt to go out and seek employment in big cities and by so doing often leave their children behind in the care of grandparents. Some estimates are that there are more than 250 million migrant workers in China, and about 60 million children are left behind without either one or both parents. Some of the grandparents are too old or even lack the knowledge and skills to provide good care for the children. 

Provision of good training guarantees a provision of quality education for preschool children.

Such a situation is found in most rural areas and some of the children in Qichun fall under this bracket. From our statistics it shows that more than 70% of the children enrolled in POF Qichun are left behind children with most of them under the care of grandparents. By involving parents/grandparents of the preschool children in project activities they have learned the importance and meaning of early childhood development and also relevant knowledge and skills related to the development of a child. At the beginning it was possible to realize that many caretakers lacked knowledge on how to educate and take care of the children. They also had a one sided belief on what education was all about. With the province nicknamed “Hometown of Professors” everyone wants their children to have the best education. Thus most caretakers believed that education was all about reading and writing so for them teaching children through games, using their hands, bodies and brains, singing and dancing was not enough. Through continuous training, interacting with caretakers and involving them in preschool events they realized the importance of such teaching methods.

                                    Story telling is part of developing children’s listening skills.

Now the caretakers in POF Qichun are happy to have their children enrolled in our POF. They now understand that children learn by playing, using their hands, bodies, brains and by exploring. The children through carrying out practical skills like, cleaning their classes, washing their plates after eating etc have developed skills which are useful throughout their life. Before they were used to be alone at home with grandparents and no other children to interact or play with, which is a very important aspect of child development-interacting with other people. They have learned to associate with other children and have developed their social ability. By playing and interacting with other preschool children and other people they have also developed communication skills, their personality, emotions and intelligence. By being together with their peers the children have also developed friendliness and confidence and they now are able to cooperate with others. In a way the children have developed a healthy personality which will guide them throughout their life. They will be able to adapt to any school environment.

Preschool education is a right for every child and Humana People to People strives to fulfill this demand.

By interacting and playing with other people, children are able to develop their communication and social abilities.

On top of all these good intellectual and social skills the children have acquired they were offered free transport by one of the village residents. Now they can be picked from their homes to school and back again without paying. This is also a great relief for the grandparents who had to take them to and from school. Everyone has expressed joy in not having to pay for transport.

Brief summary of the project:

New Hope Preschool Project is a 3 year program funded by China Merchant Charitable Foundation (CMCF) and implemented by Humana People to People (HPP). In 2015 China Merchant Charitable Foundation and Humana People to People decided to cooperate about the POF project. A baseline survey was carried out in Qichun in April 2016 and a plan for starting the project was made. During the start of the POFs in Qichun parents committees were established. Each committee has in cooperation with the rest of the parents chosen a local person to be trained as teacher. By organizing parents meetings, parents committee meetings and trainings the teachers and project staff improve the parents’ knowledge on early childhood care. The project will improve the nutrition and health status of preschool children by teaching the parents about healthy food, health and hygiene. Furthermore an annual health check will be arranged which will help in early detection of problems like malnutrition and make it possible to take action in time. At the moment POF Qichun runs 15 POFs benefiting 331 children, most of them being left behind children whose parents left for migrant work.

This POF project is funded by China Merchants Charitable Foundation (www.cmcf.org.cn)

Content in this article reflects only the views of the authors and not necessarily those of the funder.