【新唐人2011年5月10日讯】近日媒体报导，全中国有将近六千万的留守儿童，有的还没满周岁，父母就离家打工。写作《中国在梁庄》一书的作者梁鸿的形容是：村庄没人了，老房子拆掉，土地荒掉，父母跟孩子分离变正常状态，数千万留守儿童的未来令人担心。
本月初，台湾《亚洲周刊》报导，2009年中国妇联会统计，全中国有五千八百万的留守儿童，现在已逼近六千万人。他们是二亿五千万的农民工留在家乡的孩子。有的还没满周岁，父母就离家打工，只跟爷爷奶奶生活。有的还没学会自理就要进寄宿学校。
报导指出，2005年中国修订《义务教育法》，加大农村教育投入，2007年“两免一补”全面落实到农村。表面上看起来，农村入学率一直在提升。不过常年关注乡村教育的社会工作者梁晓燕却发现：有些数字是不统计的，比如文盲率下降，但返盲率很高。入学率达到百分之99，但辍学率也很高。
2007年梁晓燕曾在广西一所乡村小学支教一年，她看到一年级56个孩子，四年级剩31个，到六年级只剩16个。她跟附近五所学校的校长还不熟的时候，校长们都说他们的辍学率是百分之三。后来大家熟了，他们才说出这些小学的辍学率都超过百分之50。但这些从来不会被统计上去。
此外，为了整合资源，官方近年来推行“撤点并校”，大量撤掉村一级学校，并且在县镇一级大量推行寄宿制学校。
不过梁晓燕发现：很多学校还没盖好，基层学校就撤了。十几个学校的学生全集中过来，老师不够，教室也不够，一间教室常挤着七、八十个学生。二十四小时住校，孩子常出现心理问题。第一次去农村志愿支教的大学生常问：这些孩子为什么这么不懂事？这么坏？他们伤心，梁晓燕也很伤心。
1998年到2007年间，全国适龄儿童人数减少百分之24，但学校总数却减少百分之47，比人口减少大了一倍。大量撤掉基层学校的结果是，许多孩子连上学都有困难。
写作《中国在梁庄》一书的作者梁鸿的形容是，梁庄小学关闭后，接送孩子上学的老人每天都得把孩子送到镇上，早、中、晚都要接送，每天来回六趟，一趟二里地。
而许多孩子才一岁，父母就出去打工，爷爷奶奶带到五六岁上学，直到初中上寄宿学校。梁鸿发现，留守儿童变得封闭、冷漠、自卑、孤僻。比如梁庄所隶属的河南省穰县，从2007年到2009年，留守青少年的犯罪案件增加了一倍，犯罪人数更增加了三倍多。
梁晓燕还发现：现在官方对农村老师的评审标准就是看考试成绩，比城市更追求升学率。她表示，教育只为了升学，学校只是赶着你去考试。很可怕！
《亚洲周刊》质疑，几亿农民工的下一代从小远离父母，教育只为了考试，上大学的概率却不到一成，他们的未来在哪里？
新唐人记者曾耀贤、王明宇综合报导。
60 Million Children Left Behind
In rural China, nearly 60 million children
are left behind when their parents migrate
to urban areas to find work.
According to author Liang Hong: “Villages are empty,
houses are torn down and farmland is abandoned.
Its normal for children to be split from parents.”
According to Asia Weekly, statistics released
by All-China Women’s Federation show that in 2009,
58 million children were left-behind,
the number must be closer to 60 million today.
Children of the 250 million migrant workers
were left with grandparents before the age of one,
or sent to boarding school at very young ages.
Revision of the Compulsory Education Law in 2005
increased the education budget in rural areas.
On the surface school enrollment rate has increased
in rural areas; but according to social worker
Liang Xiaoyan, the statistics are not comprehensive.
For example, although illiteracy rate is lowering,
the rate of returning to illiteracy is high;
although school enrollment rate reached 99%,
school dropout rate remains high.
In 2007, Liang taught in a rural school in Guangxi,
where she saw 51 students in the first grade
drop to 31 students in the fourth grade,
further dropping to 16 in the sixth grade.
Principles of the 5 nearby schools
claimed that their dropout rate was 3%.
Liang later found that rate to be in fact over 50%.
Moreover, in recent years, schools are being merged
for resources consolidation purposes.
Village schools are closed
and boarding schools are opened in townships.
Liang Xiaoyan discovered that village schools
were closed before the constructions
of boarding schools were finished.
There were not enough teachers or classrooms,
many students also suffered psychological issues.
New teachers now constantly ask why students
behave so bad. This situation saddens everyone.
From 1998 to 2007 the number of school-age children
in China decreased 24%, while the number of schools
decreased by 47%. As a result, many children
face difficulties with school enrollments.
According to author Liang Hong,
after village schools were closed, the elderly
had to take the children to the township
3 times a day. A 2km roundtrip each time.
Many children were left behind before turning one,
they lived with grandparents until boarding school.
Withdrawn and unsociable, such children contribute
to the dramatic increase in adolescent delinquency.
Liang Xiaoyan found that teachers were evaluated
based on students’ test scores alone.
College admission became the push toward education,
a very dangerous state according to Liang.
Asia Weekly asks: ”With the college admission rate
less than 10%, what will be the future
of these left-behind children?”
NTD reporters Zeng Yaoxian and Wang Mingyu
