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"Now I can have dinner with both mama and papa every night!" Siqi said joyfully and emphatically.

Nine-year-old Xue Siqi hasn't seen much of his father since he was a year old. While his father has worked in Wen Ling, Zhejiang Province, he and his mother have lived in rural Henan Province so that she could take care of her husband's aging parents. 

©UNICEF/China/2011/Jerry Liu Siqi and his parents in Wenling, Zhejiang Province. There are 27 million migrant children in China. Coming from the countryside, they face many challenges in adjusting to city life. UNICEF's life-skills education programme helps them avoid risk of accidents and injuries

Six months ago Siqi and his mother came to live with his father, following the death of his grandparents. Leaving everything familiar behind, Siqi, one of China's 27.3 million migrant children*, is faced with the problem of adjusting to the rhythm of bustling city life.

"Some kids do not even know what a yellow traffic light means." Yang Xue, a teacher from Zeguo Dongfang Primary School said. This is a privately-run school catering for migrant children. "There are no roads where they come from, only dirt tracks." Yang added.

Yet in Wen Ling, where Siqi now lives, a boom town whose exports range from shoes to mechanical tools, one has to watch out for all types of vehicles ranging from diesel trucks overloaded with building materials to the latest model luxury sedans.

From the school to the factory dormitory, Siqi has to walk at least 30 minutes and passes 3 crossings, there are no traffic lights along the way, and the roads are not without reckless drivers hurriedly overtaking one another. Road accidents are the second largest cause of injury death among children in China.

Siqi has learned to watch his step. He knows that he will not have grandparents or nannies to wait on him at the school gate, like many of his local classmates do.

What his local classmates seem to know from birth, he has to learn from a class specially designed to help him adjust to city life.

In order to help the children of migrant workers like Siqi, a special life skills program was designed and funded by UNICEF China, in collaboration with National Working Committee on Children and Women under the State Council. The pilot program is carried out in 6 counties nationwide and Wen Ling is one of the project sites.

The program is comprised of two parts, one part is taught in school to migrant children by specially-trained teachers. The other part of the program - family education aimed at parents - is carried out by social workers.

Grow up without father

Migrant children in China mainly come from populated inland provinces such as Sichuan, Henan and Anhui. They migrate to coastal towns or capital cities of the industrial provinces of China following in their parents' footsteps. 

Children of migrant workers like Siqi are the lucky ones as they have the opportunity to live with their parents. Most might only see their parents once a year or once every few years, during traditional festivals.

Siqi's father first left the family in search of a job in 1998. He became an experienced mechanic operating factory equipment and settled down in Wen Ling County in the coastal province of Zhejiang.

"I left my elder son (for the job) when he was only 5, we haven't lived together since then. He is now 18 years' old."  Siqi's father sighed, "I don't want to leave Siqi behind again."

A child education expert approves of Siqi's father's decision. "The best thing migrant parents can do for their children is to bring them with them," said Zhu Diyun, a child education expert based in Hangzhou, the capital city of Zhejiang.

"Living with parents before two years of age will help nurture the child's sense of security and self-recognition, the foundation of one's sense of being." Zhu added.

Double adjustment

Every year on September 1st, Headmaster Tang Yukun counts the number of his students with fear in his heart . Tang runs the Zeguo Dongfang Primary School, where all the 1,900 students are migrant children.

©UNICEF/China/2011/Jerry Liu Children actively participate in life-skills classes in Wen Ling, Zhejiang Province.

Situated in a river delta, all too often during the summer holidays, there are several tragic drowning accidents, and the majority of the fatalities are among children who have migrated to Wen Ling.

"This summer, there were 6 drowning incidents, all were migrant children." Teng Linhua, director of the Education Bureau of Wen Ling said. Drowning is by far the leading cause child injury death in China.

Luckily none are from Tang's school. As one of the participatory schools of the program, Tang made arrangements for all children from grade 4 and above to take the life skills lessons.

"The lessons are very much needed in our school, our children came from all corners of the country and a lot of them are lacking the awareness for self-protection." Tang said.

In addition to safety issues, the students also learn about how to cope with urban life, how to make friends in schools, how to react when emergencies happen and how to communicate with their parents, and a host of other important skills.

On the parents' side, information is provided containing real examples in the form of questions and answers. "Family education is especially important for migrant children because most of them have not actually lived with their parents. For the kids, they need to adjust on two levels: getting used to city life, and getting accustomed to life with their parents." Zhu Diyun, the child education expert said.

A wet piece of cloth

Dinner time is when the whole family sits down to discuss what happened that day. Siqi constantly brings home news that the parents did not know before. "For example, my son once came home and told me he's been to the fire brigade. And he shows us how to use a wet piece of cloth to cover the nose and mouth with the left hand, and crawl out of the room on fire on the knees." The mother said, mimicking the son's instructions.

©UNICEF/China/2011/Jerry Liu Children actively participate in life-skills classes in Wen Ling, Zhejiang Province.

Knowing that this knowledge may prove to be useful one day, as the family lives above the factory warehouse, Siqi's father nods in approval.

In his eyes, Siqi will grow up in this urban city and he will not be surprised if Siqi calls Wenling 'home' when he grows up.

* Source: 2010 Children in China: An Atlas of Social Indicators. UNICEF CHINA

by Liang Ruoqiao