The Chinese capital Friday passed a newly revamped regulation
which involves special measures to better protect the rights and
interests of the minors.
According to the Regulation on Protection of Minors, the Beijing
municipal government and concerned departments should take measures
to guarantee the rights of migrant children to get compulsory
education in Beijing as required by law.
"This is the first time that Beijing has protected migrant
children's educational rights through legislation," said Qi Zhiguo,
vice director of the Beijing Minors Protection Committee, who
participated in the legislation.
Statistics from the China Children's Center show that 9.3
percent of the migrant children in China are dropouts and 46.9
percent of six-year-old children have not been admitted to
elementary schools.
Scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1, 2004, the regulation
stipulates that Beijing should set up emergency aid institutions to
house and support minors suffering abuses or other family
problems.
Earlier this year in June, a three-year-old girl, Li Siyi, from
Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan
Province, starved to death unknowingly at home when her mother
was away in forced abstinence from drugs.
"It reveals the lack of proper institutions to take care of the
special group of children," said Qi, adding that this tragedy would
not happen again with the emergency aid institutions.
The regulation also shows special care for street children in
saying that juvenile vagrants should be aided separately from adult
vagrants. China passed regulations on aiding and managing vagrants
and beggars, including minors, in urban areas on June 18, 2003.
"However, minors have their own needs different from adults and
should be treated separately in shelters offered by the
government," said Qi.
According to the new regulation, the shelters should provide
psychological guidance, short-term education and bad behavior
correcting courses to vagrant minors under protection.
To better protect minors' safety on the Internet, the regulation
forbids Internet cafes to receive young people under the age of 18
and urges institutions with Internet services to keep minors away
from information detrimental to their growth.
The regulation also suggested local primary and middle schools
offer psychological consultations with professional psychological
teachers.
A survey by the China Association of Psychology in 22 provinces
and municipalities showed that about 13 percent of juveniles
surveyed showed obvious mental or behavioral problems. Meanwhile,
about 16 percent of juveniles surveyed have symptoms of anxiety and
depression.
"It is the third time the Beijing People's Congress amended the
Regulation on Protection of Minors in the past 14 years, a
frequency topping the country's list," said Wu Senzhong, a senior
official with the Beijing Municipal People's Congress. More than
half of the old articles were revamped and some special articles
added to follow the society's pace, said Wu.
(Xinhua News Agency December 6, 2003)