Tough life lessons: Teachers in rural China
By Globaltimes.cn, Published: 2015-06-07 18:24:55
Li Shangrong, 51, teacher and principal of a primary school in Chengxian county, Longnan, Gansu Province, leans on his crutch while giving a lesson to students on May 21, 2015.
A childhood disease left Li with a paralyzed right leg. Despite his handicap, Li has been teaching for 32 years. Even though he has fallen from his classroom’s podium many times, Li insists on standing during lectures. “My greatest wish is to see my students leave this small village and become someone worthwhile,” Li said. Photo: CCTV
[GalleryHights]
Mo Wanneng, a 60-year-old teacher at Sanhe Primary School, stands with his students in Haokun village, Lingyun county, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on April 21, 2014. Mo has been a teacher for 36 years, 30 of which he spent teaching at Sanhe Primary School. Due to a birthdate error in Mo’s records, he still has two more years to go before retirement. Photo: Xinhua Feng Weihua, 44, cares for students sleeping in the classroom at Nongding Teaching Point in Nongyong village, Dahua Yao Autonomous County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, on June 6, 2014.
After 20 years of substitute teaching, Wei became a certified teacher in 2013 and arrived in Nongding. Because the school is remote, students often choose to sleep at the school in order to save on travel time and keep their teacher company. Photo: Xinhua
Teacher Wei Shangliang poses with students at Longhua Teaching Point, Yudong village, Du'an Yao Autonomous County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, on September 3, 2014. Wei, born in 1992, gave up a job in the city to return to his hometown to teach.
Wei, now a certified instructor, teaches 30 students at Longhua. Photo: Xinhua
Lu Jiahong teaches a class to the only two students attending Kumatian Teaching Point in Quanzhou county, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, on September 4, 2014. After finishing high school, Lu served as a rural teacher at Dayuan Central Primary School in 1976. Six years later, he learned of Kumatian’s lack of teachers and offered to work there. He has been teaching there ever since. Photo: Xinhua Teacher Shi Lansong from Diaowang Teaching Point in Dalongdong village, Shanglin county, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, ferries students across a river to school in an electric-powered boat (above) on May 6, 2014, and in a small wooden canoe on September 7, 2010.
For 29 years, Shi has served as both teacher and ferryman for his students. Photo: Xinhua
Teacher Tang Zixia takes a break in her dorm at Niudong Teaching Point in Yudong village, Du'an Yao Autonomous County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, on September 3, 2014. Tang started her teaching career at Niudong in 2013. As the majority of her students are children of migrant workers who have left for the cities, Tang serves as both a teacher and a mother figure. Photo: Xinhua