SLS-3b2 The First 4YUG Cohort - Youth Development for Migrant Children

Mainland China has been developing very rapidly for several decades.  In 1980, 20% of the population lived in the cities.  Forty years later, in 2020, it has increased to 60%.  A lot of rural areas have been turned urban.  A huge number of people have also moved from the countryside to the cities.  Some of them permanently, but many of them are migrant workers who do not have resident status and privileges in the city.  They left behind a huge number of “left behind” children who grow up in the care of relatives, rather than their own parents.  They also bring along some of their children to the cities.  Even then, these children in the cities may not receive proper care.  That may be because their parents are hard pressed to earn a living, for themselves as well as the relatives back home.  Many children cannot attend the regular city schools because they do not have the same privileges as regular residents of the cities. The schools that they end up attending are often poorly funded, equipped and staffed.  

Professor Daniel Shek’s team has developed a SL subject that addresses this need with the theme of adolescent development.  It aims to build up the underprivileged children’s competence, resilience, and aspiration.  They have been sending many teams to the big cities such as Shanghai and Hangzhou for many years.  Typically the teams organise day camps and tutorial classes of music, dancing, science, English and mathematics to build up a sense of achievement and further develop their potential.  On these projects, PolyU students typically also collaborate with students from renowned Mainland universities. 

Through these projects, our students also get to see and experience the changes in the country up close.  On the one hand, the rapid development has brought untold riches to many, as evidenced by the modernisation and wealth in coastal cities such as Shanghai and Hangzhou.  On the other hand, the rapid development has incurred real human costs, as evidenced by the situation of the migrant workers and their children.  

Many of these projects in Mainland China have been partially funded by the Ministry of Education of the Chinese government.  The program encourages exchange between university students from Hong Kong with those from the Mainland.  Hence these SL projects in Mainland China achieves multiple purposes.  On the one hand, our students learn social responsibility through addressing certain social needs on the Mainland.  On the other hand, it enhances mutual understanding between the two sets of university students.