As China marches toward¹ urbanization, many farmers are leaving their land to find a job in cities.

随着中国迅速迈向城市化，许多农民离开家乡，前往城市里打工。

While they leave with hope and dreams, they also leave behind a major problem: their children and their schooling².

他们带着希望和梦想离开，却将一个大问题留了下来：他们的孩子和孩子的教育。

A school in North China's Shanxi province that had more than 400 students about eight years ago now has only 15, while there are 20 teachers.

中国北方山西省的一所学校，在8年前有400多名学生，如今却只有15名学生和20名老师。

With so many children going to cities with their parents for better education, it's those left behind that are suffering.

许多的孩子跟随父母进城去接受更好的教育，而这些留守儿童仍在这里坚守、承受着这一切。

"Although the teacher works³ very hard, the students struggle to perform well as there is lack of peer⁴ competition and encouragement," said Li Xueping, headmaster of the school.

该校校长李雪平表示：“尽管老师们工作非常努力，但由于缺乏竞争和鼓励，学生们难以取得好成绩。”

"All my best friends left to study in cities. It's only during vacation that I get to meet and play with them," said 11-year-old boy Li Xinsheng.

11岁的学生李新生说道：“我的好朋友们都去城里上学了。只有到放假了我才能见到他们，和他们一起玩。”

The left-behind children are all from the poorest families. Maybe some will leave later when their parents get economically better, said the headmaster.

这些留守儿童都是来自最为贫困的家庭。随着家里经济状况的好转，可能其中一些孩子稍晚也会跟父母进城。