Metro

Women and children

(China Daily)
Updated: 2007-05-16 07:02

How well the rights and interests of women and children are protected is one of the bench marks of society.

The emancipation of women from the old rules and stereotyped ideology has been on the national agenda since the founding of New China in 1949.

As a result, the status of women today is far higher than it was several decades ago. At the same time, great efforts have been made to protect the rights and interests of children.

Yet, efforts are required to tackle new problems.

That explains why special programs for the development of the cause of women and children have been mapped out by the State Council to tackle prominent problems that affect the smooth development of their equality and wellbeing.

For example, the high rate of girl dropouts used to be a serious problem in many rural regions. Parents would send their sons to school rather than their daughters when they could not afford to educate both.

The past policy of reducing or waiving tuition fees for poor rural families was followed last year by free compulsory nine-year education in all rural areas. This guarantees that more than 98 percent of all rural children - including girls - receive education.

With a growing number of rural laborers entering cities as migrant workers, the total number of children left behind with relatives has reached more than 20 million.

How to provide them with a healthy environment has become a new challenge for local governments.

Efforts have been made by some grass-roots governments to set up boarding schools for these children. Many cities are opening schools for the children of migrant workers. And the State Council has established a special organization to guide rural governments in solving this daunting problem.

With national programs setting the guidelines, local governments have established programs of their own for the equality of women and the welfare of children.

That these concerns have long been on the agendas of governments at all levels has contributed to the country's achievements.

Hopefully both the women who have benefited from these policies and the men who realize there is still a long way to go will bring energy and intelligence into achieving ongoing progress.

(China Daily 05/16/2007 page10)