20 | Wednesday, December 23, 2020 HONG KONG EDITION | CHINA DAILY YOUTH
From left: Student Li Zhongmei’s family is from Zhema village, Guangnan county, Wenshan Zhuang and Miao autonomous prefecture, Yunnan province. The all girls dormitory at the No 1 Primary School in Guangnan county. The girls’ clean bunk beds. PHOTOS BY XU LIN / CHINA DAILY A different class of learning Girls from ethnic groups get a real opportunity thanks to vision and determination of school professionals, Xu Lin reports.
stitch in time … as the say Guangnan’s mountainous regions ing goes. But for girls from to be recruited to a school in the ethnic groups going to a town. school that nurtures their As the village had no cement road, talent,A the ability to stitch is just one her father walked with her on a of their achievements. Li Zhongmei, mountain path for about four hours 11, of the Zhuang ethnic group, is one to get there. They also brought two of the girls. She is learning embroi bags of rice as provisions for the dery in class and that, among other semester, as required by the school. skills she is being taught, will help her Pan only went home once a thread together her future prospects. semester, and couldn’t contact her The fifthgrader is a boarder from parents while at school, because the two allgirl classes at No 1 Primary village had no electricity, let alone a School in Guangnan county, Wen telephone. shan Zhuang and Miao autonomous She was worried about her new prefecture, Yunnan province. life, but it took her just a month to It takes her about two hours to adjust to it. travel to school from her home in She learned how to use a bucket the mountainous region, including attached to a rope to get water out of traveling along a 10kilometerlong a well, as the school had no tap dirt road. Villagers send her by car water. and then she takes a bus. All of the girls were simply Starting from 1995, the primary dressed in the homemade clothes of school began to enroll an allgirl class their own ethnic groups. Most had drawn from local ethnic minorities, no pocket money. offering a twoyear education from They once received clothes and fifth to sixth grade, exempt from all stationery donated by primary expenses, including tuition fees and school students in Shanghai as part board and lodging costs. of a publicservice activity. It was the Outstanding pupils from impov first time Pan had worn such clothes erished families in the county’s that kept her so warm in winter. She remote areas are selected. still keeps some as a memento of her After graduation, they will study school days. at the county’s best middle school, work as head teacher of the allgirl Upon arrival, many girls had poor and boost their chances of going to class. For 22 years she has devoted Mandarin skills because they spoke college. The graduates of the allgirl herself tirelessly to the success of the different languages of their eth classes have gone on to become For female students the school. Now she only teaches nic groups. Pan recalls that, leading contributors in all walks of from poor families, Chinese language class. although they were straightA stu life, such as civil servants, doctors Over the decades, she has taught dents from their villages, in the early and teachers. the allgirl class more than 500 students. Many still days, they needed to study very hard “I like my new school life. The becomes a goal for call her “Mother Liao” long after to keep up with their county peers. environment and teaching methods them to study when their graduation. “We studied hard and followed have changed (at the new school), When she was head teacher of the the instructions of our teachers. but I don’t have much pressure they see pioneers like class, she was at school from 7 am to Even during weekends, we would regarding my study,” Zhongmei me and my 9 pm, calling it a day only after see recite texts under the shade of a says. “I want to go to Tsinghua Uni ing the boarding students go to bed. tree,” Pan says. versity. My dream is to be a teacher.” classmates.” She gave it everything and even had Life in town was so different and The new school provides her with to ask her parents to look after her her worldview was also shifting Pan Wenying, 37, a teacher of access to a library, and she loves to Chinese at the primary school, daughter, a teenager at the time. with each new revelation. Watching borrow books, especially those con where she used to be a student “Students are sensible and smart, TV — which even then was still just taining fairy tales. and eager to learn,” she says. blackandwhite — as well as eating Her parents, who had to curtail When a new semester started, she apples and mooncakes were all new their formal education at primary Science and Technology. required students to speak Manda experiences. school level, work in Baise, Guangxi It encourages children from pov rin all the time, rather than the lan “The allgirl class has changed our Zhuang autonomous region. It’s ertystricken counties to read aloud guage of their ethnic groups. destiny completely. All of my former about one hour on a highspeed short science articles to their moth Besides their academic studies, as classmates have decent jobs and a train from their daughter’s school in ers, to not only foster closer parental they were away from home for the few are entrepreneurs,” says Pan. Guangnan. bonds, but also help popularize sci first time in their lives, she had to Pan noticed that many of her Her father, Li Chuntian, 46, is both entific knowledge in rural areas. take care of the girls and teach them female peers in her village discon delighted and proud that she was “The allgirl class program is a how to live on their own and handle tinued their studies before finishing admitted to the allgirl class. He says great example of getting rid of pov chores, such as making beds and primary school, got married in their the village only has several female erty via education and plays an doing the laundry. teenage years and became house college graduates, and he’s willing to important role in Guangnan’s pov She accompanied them on walks wives and mothers. continue funding and supporting erty alleviation,” Zhang Xiulan, head around the town, to get familiar Many impoverished families her future studies, although, as he of Wenshan prefecture, said at the with the place and learn about traf could only afford to pay for their also has two sons, he sometimes has opening ceremony of the allgirl fic rules. She also guided them on sons to study. Daughters would be to borrow money from relatives to classes in September. The national women’s issues and hygiene, and married early to help their parents cover their tuition fees and other liv level impoverished county shed that took them to see the doctor when get a dowry, which would be spent ing expenses. unwanted label in November. they fell ill. to help ease their family finances. This semester, the school recruit She says that, compared with the “For female students from poor Empowering knowledge ed 100 students for two allgirl past, children today seem less able families, the allgirl class becomes a Another pupil, Hou Shengli, 12, is classes, the first time that it has to lead an independent life, and goal for them to study when they see also flourishing in the allgirl class. extended enrollment. some don’t even know how to do pioneers like me and my class She visited the main town of Guang A company in Jiangsu province household chores. Many are left mates,” says the studentturned nan county for the first time when has provided over 1.04 million yuan behind children and their grand teacher, adding that parents, who she enrolled at the school this year ($159,000) to support the biennial parents would take on everything have seen some of them graduate — actually it’s the first place she program. This is to cover many items, themselves. But, after two or three from college and obtain good jobs, visited other than her village. It’s such as the girls’ living expenses and months at school, they master are more willing to send their chil also the first time she has used a renovation fees for their dormitory. these basic life skills. dren to school. computer in class. Liao Nongying, a veteran teacher Pan believes that, in this era, the She and her two younger brothers there, recalls that, back in the 1990s, Paying it forward allgirl class is necessary, even only meet their parents once a year, the belief that men were superior to The first allgirl class, in 1995, only though people’s material living stan because they’re working in Guang women was not uncommon in the had 44 students. Among them was dards have been raised. In the digi dong province. county’s more remote areas. Pan Wenying, 37, of the Yao ethnic tal age there are some lessons that “I’m suited to this new life as I’ve “Since the program has been run group, who now teaches Chinese girls learn better when they are made new friends. I like reading ning for years, it’s easier to recruit language at the primary school. together and can talk to each other. books and want to study hard to students, as more parents realize “I applied for a job at the school As children that are left behind to be improve my math,” Shengli says. that knowledge can change desti because I feel attached to my alma looked after by grandparents, they Besides ethnicgroup culture nies,’’ Liao says, adding that most mater. I’m glad to return as a teach may neglect their studies and just classes, the primary school also graduates do go to college and find er, shouldering the responsibility of lose themselves playing with their offers biology classes and organizes good jobs. educating the next generation of our smartphones, living life without a talks about safety, such as protec It was in 2006 that the school first motherland,” Pan says. clear purpose. However, in an all tion against sexual assault. got funding from private enterpris “It’s hard for the younger genera girl class, they live at school and, To broaden their horizons, the es. Before that, the school depended From top: Students learn needlework in an embroidery lesson at the tion, those like my child, to imagine with good company and in a caring school calls for students to join the on local governmental departments primary school in Guangnan county, Yunnan province. They do the tough life I had in my childhood. atmosphere, they can focus on study program “learning science with my and public institutions. exercises on the sports ground. Li Zhongmei and her father Li For me, it’s bittersweet, with many and strive for a happier, fruitful life. mother”, which is organized by the Chuntian at home in Zhema village, Guangnan county. Hou Shengli, happy memories.” Science Popularization Depart Liao’s 500 daughters another student from the school, lights fires to cook at home in the Pan recalls that, back in 1995, it Contact the writer at ment at the China Association for For Liao, 52, it has been tough county’s Liuliangjing village. was a great honor for those from [email protected]