"Sichuan Sisters" often quit their roles as housemaids early to return to their hometowns because of inadequate training and poor educational skills, it has been claimed.

The southwest province started exporting Sichuan Sisters to other areas in China in 2003. But many of them have returned to their hometowns after working for only a short period, it has been alleged.

In one county, 85 per cent of the Sichuan Sisters sent to Beijing have returned, said an anonymous source in the Sichuan provincial government who is in charge of labor export.

The claims were made as Beijing welcomed its first batch of 34 college-trained Sichuan Sisters last week, attracting nationwide media attention.

They were one group of Sichuan Sisters last year who benefited from a special government fund to forge the brand.

Last year, Sichuan spent 1.6 million yuan (US$200,000) in a bid to train 4,000 housekeepers and create the Sichuan Sisters into a labor export brand across the country.

But the source from the Sichuan provincial government raised concern at how long some of the maids could stay away from their own hometowns.

Many organizations involved in labor export in Sichuan are losing no time to send Sichuan Sisters to Beijing and Shanghai because many maids have left or are leaving for their hometowns for the 15-day Spring Festival, which falls on January 29, leaving behind many vacancies.

The Sichuan provincial government source said, however, that in the past the low educational level and inadequate training of Sichuan Sisters often led to their early return back home,

Also, most of the maids, who come from the countryside, are trained to master practical skills only.

Many organizations care more for how many maids they can export rather than how to improve their quality, the source added.

In order to establish the Sichuan Sisters brand, the Sichuan provincial finance offered a subsidy of 400 yuan (US$50) to organizations for each maid exported last year.

Because of the subsidies, many organizations would focus on how to enroll more would-be maids than how to improve their skills.

As a result, many maids could not satisfy the needs of high-income families in Beijing and Shanghai. A few organizations even fabricated the number of maids they trained in order to receive government subsidies, the source said.

Women in Sichuan Province are famous nationwide for being capable, diligent and able to endure hardship.

(China Daily January 5, 2006)