A massive gap separates China's rural and urban children when it comes to reading. Lack of access to books leaves many rural children with a knowledge deficit compared to their peers in the cities, fuelling a vicious cycle that can keep them in poverty, the Party news portal People’s Daily reported.
While urban children can immerse themselves in a diverse array of books, a survey reportedly found children living in one village in Hebei Province were reading outdated and pirated books and had no exposure to picture-books at all.
It also said children who grow up only reading textbooks – as many rural children do – will wind up with limited vision and insight. Meanwhile, children with good reading habits accumulate a great number of words and expressions and also broaden their minds, helping them to better understand their society.
Lacking these attributes can drive farmers to focus only on short-term profit and local interests. It also leaves them unaware of the function of reading, because they feel reading will not help them to make money or raise a family.
Only by eradicating the idea that study is useless can rural poverty be alleviated, the paper said. Charity is not enough – the government should offer more cultural services and increase children's' reading resources, for instance by setting up small libraries in villages.
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