Huanglian primary school in Zhenxiong County, Yunnan Province is an alpine school, with an altitude of 2100 meters and an annual average temperature of only 10 degrees. In order to study, nearly 200 children go out with a flashlight at 5 a.m. in winter. The farthest way is to walk three or four hours on the mountain road, most of them left behind children. The youngest child is only 6 years old. It takes more than 60000 steps to go back and forth to school in a day.
According to the local teacher, the best way is to build a boarding system. In 2017, Ma Yun public welfare foundation reformed the boarding system of the school, and students and teachers moved in in 2019.
Xie Hanjiang, born in 1994, is the principal of Huanglian primary school and a relatively young rural principal in Yunnan. After the reform of the school boarding system, he lived in the school, attended classes during the day and became a 'parent' at night to take care of students' life and tutor homework. He said that he used to be left behind children. The care of teachers has illuminated his way to school. Now he also wants to illuminate the way of these children.
After the reform of boarding system, the school has built dormitories with floor heating, reading bar, science laboratory, art room, family bar for left behind children, etc. Students also cultivate their own interests in their spare time.
The school now has 13 teachers, each of whom has to undertake teaching tasks. In addition, they have also replaced the interest classes in the rural children's palace and are still life teachers. After the boarding system, the children's academic performance and behavior habits have also been greatly improved.
Children who used to walk 60000 steps a day now only need to walk once a week. More than 10 children who worked and studied with their parents also returned to their hometown to go to school.