IT IS NOT UNCOMMON for children from Guizhou province and other parts of Southwest China to work at small workshops in coastal provinces such as Jiangsu province, an economic engine in the Yangtze River Delta. Beijing Youth Daily commented on Thursday:

Teachers in poverty-stricken areas can do little to prevent children from quitting school to go and work in factories in better-off places.

Most of these child laborers are children who have been left behind in their hometowns by parents who work elsewhere. And even if it is free in their hometowns, few of the children think completing the nine years of compulsory education will bring them a better future. They would rather start working as early as possible, so they can make money as soon as possible.