Muqiao: Reflections on a two-pupil school

World
Europe

‍By CGTN's Rediscovering China

Four hour’s drive from downtown area of Chongqing Municipality leads to a village school called Muqiao.

But if it wasn’t for the flag flying above the building, you might not even realize it’s tucked away in the valley. Thanks to the school’s only teacher, surnamed Yang, and his two students, the sounds of joy echoes throughout the village.

It might be mistaken for a family home and one peek inside shows that’s just how it can sometimes appear.

Despite the fact there are just two students here, Yang runs his classes as if there were dozens.

Yang is ready to help his students whenever they have a question. /CGTN Photo

He is devoted to the school and does everything for the children, from teaching, cooking for them and even picking up one of them up in the morning from home and taking him to the school.

Yang believes his job is very important.

“I hope Muqiao School will continue to exist even if there’s just one child. If there’s no school here, imagine, how can children from poor families manage? They’re from a remote mountainous area. Learning from books can change your life; knowledge can change your life,” he said.

While in some ways, it's an idealistic notion to keep these villages alive, they reflect a level of poverty most young Chinese aspire to leave behind.

It's not hard to see why young people don't stay, as Peng Deyuan, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee on Education, says.

“The parents have gone to a big city to work. Urbanization is speeding up, and some entire families have moved to the town. They move to the counties and work there. Some remote areas have been abandoned by the ‘mountain migrants’ who have moved to towns. The students in the village schools are fewer and fewer every year.”

There are many more students in the county school.

Rediscovering China is a 30-minute features program offering in-depth reports on major issues facing China today. It airs Sunday at 10:30 a.m. BJT (0230GMT), with a rebroadcast at 11:30 p.m. (1530GMT), as well as Monday 8:30 a.m. (0030GMT) and Friday 1:30 p.m. (0530GMT).