Children moved out of mountains enjoy colorful life in new school

Photo taken shows the Lanping Hope School sponsored by China Communications Construction Company in Lanping County, Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China’s Yunnan Province. (Zeng Yuan/Guangming Picture)

Along the Bijiang River of Lanping County, southwest China’s Yunnan Province, students of Pumi and Lisu ethnic groups were singing the national anthem of China, “The flying red flag” and other classic songs at the playground of Lanping Hope School sponsored by China Communications Construction Company on Saturday afternoon. Their schoolmates aside were practicing freestyle basketball, drawing thunderous applause from the audience. The students went to school on the weekend to take different extra-curricular activities based on their personal interests.

New school empowers new arrivals

Located in Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture, one of the least developed regions in Yunnan, Lanping County has a large poverty-stricken population, many of whom lived in their old log cabins in the mountains. In order to improve the livelihoods of the poor residents, local authorities have built new apartments at various resettlement sites and helped villagers move out of their old houses in uninhabitable mountains to those sites equipped with more convenient transportation and better infrastructure since 2016. By far, around 5,000 students from village schools have been moved to Lanping County, which requires more investments in education. China Communications Construction Company invested 150 million yuan to establish Lanping Hope School for children from five resettlement sites nearby.

Photo taken shows the Lanping Hope School sponsored by China Communications Construction Company in Lanping County, Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China’s Yunnan Province. (Zeng Yuan/Guangming Picture)

“Covering an area of 262 mu (about 174, 667 square meters), we now have opened 66 classes, serving 2,832 students, most of whom are from impoverished households,” Yang Guangze, the principal of the Hope School said in an interview. Yang organized teachers to hold a parent-teacher meeting to get the picture before the official opening, so that teachers can give lessons to students in accordance with their respective learning progress.

Apart from the regular examination-oriented courses, the principal of Pumi ethnic group also pays a lot of attention to the all-round development of students as well as preserving the culture of ethnic minorities.

Interesting classes for student’s interests

“It’s my first time to take a painting class in my new school, and I have a lot of fun here,” 12-year-old Xiong Jiying, a big smile on her face, shared her passion for various extra-curricular activities which she can sign up for at Lanping Hope School.

Photo taken shows Xiong Jiying paint a picture atthe Lanping Hope School sponsored by China Communications Construction Company in Lanping County, Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China’s Yunnan Province. (Zeng Yuan/Guangming Picture)

Last year, Xiong moved to the Yongxing Community with her family and registered at Lanping Hope School later. The girl of Pumi ethnic group told Guangming Online that her favorite thing about the new school is the fact that she can take extra-curricular classes and her personal interest lies in drawing.

“There have been 7 extra-curricular classes for the moment, two out of which are ethnic dancing classes. It’s our first attempt at combining traditional ethnic culture with the modern culture,” Yang said. “We’re planning to open one more to teach students basic knowledge of ethnic groups, such as languages, customs, festivals to protect ethnic culture.”

Photo taken shows students attend an extra-curricular class atthe Lanping Hope School sponsored by China Communications Construction Company in Lanping County, Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China’s Yunnan Province. (Zeng Yuan/Guangming Picture)

As the one and only Bai and Pumi Autonomous County, Lanping boasts 14 ethnic minorities with diverse cultures, accounting for 94.9 percent of the total population, according to official statistics. Yet few students, including Xiong, can speak their own language anymore for they never have the chance to learn and practice. Now these extra-curricular classes provide them with opportunities to learn more about ethnic culture, which will definitely do good to the protection of ethnic languages in the development of the country’s spoken and written languages. Moreover, children can go to school and be taken care of by teachers during the weekend when their parents are not available.