And as China marks its 33rd Teachers’ Day, the country reflects on the great advances seen its educational system through the years. But for a primary school in a remote village in Sichuan Province, things seem unchanged. It has no buildings, no modern equipment, and no new teachers. So what drives its sole teacher to persist in his calling for over 30 years? CGTN's Yang Jinghao reports.

 

It’s been 32 years since Huang Zongquan began his teaching career in Longbao village, which is surrounded by steep mountains. n nOver the last three decades, he's been the only teacher for the only primary school here, and is in charge of all subjects.

 

HUANG ZONGQUAN, TEACHER, LONGBAO VILLAGE PRIMARY SCHOOL“I love these children and I love teaching. That's why I have spent almost half my lifetime here.”

 

Longbao is one of the poorest villages of the city of Yibin in southwest China's Sichuan Province. Until last year, there wasn’t even a road here. Huang had to carry all his teaching material in pack baskets, although he sometimes enlisted the help of horses. Today, he has 12 third-grade students; half of them are Yi people – an ethnic minority.

 

LAYI RIGEN, STUDENT “I like my teacher, because I can learn a lot from him and he cares about us so much.”

 

NA’ER YUEXI, STUDENT “I like studying here, because our teacher can teach us PE, music and art lessons. And also Chinese and math.” Work for Huang doesn't end after class. When the school bell rings, Huang becomes an ordinary farmer in order to earn more money to support his son in college. Huang had several opportunities to walk out of the mountains for higher-paying jobs. But he chooses to stay behind every time.

 

HUANG ZONGQUAN, TEACHER, LONGBAO VILLAGE PRIMARY SCHOOL “I'm the only teacher in the village, and no one would like to work in such a poor place. I couldn't bear to leave my students behind. That’s too heartless.”

 

Two tile-roofed houses, a tiny playground and an extremely shabby toilet. Very few changes have taken place in the small school with a history of 64 years. But Huang said what gratifies him is that the villagers’ perception of education has largely improved.

 

HUANG ZONGQUAN, TEACHER, LONGBAO VILLAGE PRIMARY SCHOOL “The villagers now realize the importance of education. In the past, I had to try to persuade people to send their children to school and even had to give them an advance on tuition fees for them. But now, the enrollment rate is almost 100%.”

 

Huang said what he expects most is the improvement of school facilities as poverty alleviation work proceeds. More importantly, he hopes dedicated young teachers will follow in his footsteps, and bring more knowledge to these kids. Yang Jinghao, CGTN, Yibing, Sichuan Province.