A Man and His Dream

Yan Zhaoshi never thought his life would change so dramatically at the age of 42.

A local Beijinger, Yan had been working as an engineer in downtown Beijing for almost 20 years with an annual income of more than 100,000 yuan ($15,620).

This changed suddenly in July 2010, when Yan decided to take over a primary school for migrant children in the suburbs.

A quick decision

"This decision was made almost in the blink of an eye," said Yan, who had previously been working in the private Yanjing Primary School for months as a volunteer teacher of mathematics and science on weekends.

One day in late July 2010, Yan went to the school and saw people moving supplies onto a truck. After half an hour, the headmaster left the school with the truck.

Yan had heard the school's headmaster complaining of the difficulties of running the school, but he had never taken it seriously.

"If the school were closed, the students in the school would have nowhere to go for education after the summer vacation," said Yan, who immediately decided to take over the school with his friend. "We didn't think that much. We just thought we should do this at that moment."

Yan quit his job in August 2010. "I knew in many ways it was almost impossible for this school to survive for a long time, but I still wanted to give it a try," he said.

The school with more than 200 students was originally located in Tangjialing, a village on the northwestern suburb of Beijing. In 2010, the whole area was demolished and Yan had to find a new place for his school.

Yan and his friend then spent almost one month looking for a new place and finally rented a furniture warehouse in nearby Liulitun Village. On August 25, 2010, the school moved to the new location.

Yan renamed the school Yanjing Little Swan Primary School, making reference to the titular character of The Ugly Duckling. He divided the warehouse into eight small classrooms and a small playground. One classroom even lacks a door and the roof is just a large steel plate.

Every morning, Yan delivers pep speeches. "I want to tell all the children in this school that everyone is gifted in some way. Don't feel bad and don't give up," Yan said.

Recruitment woes

Before Yan decided to work as a volunteer teacher in the Yanjing Primary School, he visited quite a few other schools for migrant children and felt astonished by the poor teaching quality in schools of this kind.

"Actually some operators don't lay importance on improving teaching quality, they sometimes even do the opposite. Though schools for migrant children are usually considered not profitable, they have their own ways to make money," Yan said.

The ways Yan referred to include setting teachers' salary as low as possible, embezzling students' food service payments and even opening Internet bars in the school.

The Yanjing Primary School was no better. Yan once asked his students to write down some scientists' names that they knew, but nobody could give even one.

After taking over the school, Yan's first actions were to recruit new teachers and give raises to some returning teachers. He changed seven out of 10 teachers in the school and raised salaries from 960 yuan ($150) to 2,000 yuan ($313).

"I believe only higher salaries can attract better teachers," Yan said. "We might not be able to afford to offer the students good schoolbags, but we must provide them with good teachers."

But even the doubled payment does not meet the teachers' basic needs of living in Beijing.

Zhang Xiaofang, a 28-year-old woman who had been teaching in the school for five years, quit in the autumn of 2011. Zhang's family found her a job in her hometown. Her boyfriend also doubted her prospects as a teacher in a private school for migrant children and enticed her with a marriage proposal.

"They were not happy with my job and said it was not stable. We argued for a long time," said Zhang, who was in tears when she finally left.

Yan felt sad. "We have 12 teachers now in the school but we really cannot be sure how long they will stay here," said Yan, who has tried many ways to attract qualified teachers.

Compared with teachers of subjects like mathematics, Chinese language and English, it is much more difficult for Yan to find teachers of fine arts, physical education (PE) and music. For a long time, what his students did in the so-called PE class was to run in the small playground led by teachers of other subjects.

Yan posted a wanted ad on his micro-blog to find a PE teacher. It attracted the attention of the Beijing-based I Love Football Union. Since September 27, 2011, volunteers from the club have conducted PE classes in the school on Wednesdays.

"We are happy to do this even though the school is so far away," said Li Jun, the club's chief coach. "I admire Yan for his deeds. It is so difficult to do what he is doing now and it is hard to persist on this road."

Zhang Zheng, who earned his Master's degree in communications in the United States, joined the school as a volunteer English teacher in late 2011.

"Some other schools for migrant children with better financial conditions also approached me. But I think they can get teachers like me easily. Here, I am urgently needed," Zhang said.

Zhang found that students' pronunciation and vocabulary were weak, so at Yan's suggestion, he resolved to direct the students in a dramatic production of the popular animated television series Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf.

"Students are participating very actively," Zhang said. "They are very clever. They can recite the lines very quickly and their pronunciation has improved a lot."

After two months' rehearsal, the show was staged at a theater in Beijing's Xicheng District from December 25, 2011 to January 1, 2012. It proved to be a big success.

Channels for money

Although regarded as an idealist, Yan is actually aware of the difficulties he faces in running the school.

"The worst result we were prepared for was that the school could survive for only two months," Yan said. "The main reason was definitely money."

The school charges each student up to 700 yuan ($110) every semester, but 20 percent of the students who come from impoverished families get free tuition. The tuition fee is barely enough to pay the teachers. Yan has to pay an extra 40,000 yuan ($6,250) out of his own pocket every semester for rent, electricity, water and other items. By the end of 2011, Yan already spent 150,000 yuan ($23,438). He also set up the Little Swan Scholarship to reward students who study hard and do well on exams.

When Yan decided to run this school, he had a simple idea. As 1,200 yuan ($188) is enough to cover the cost of educating a student for a year, if 10 people were to support one student together, each one of them would pay just 120 yuan ($18.80), which is a paltry sum for many people.

Yan tried many ways to collect money. He turned to some charitable organizations for help. They all showed him sympathy but refused to aid him financially. "It seemed that I could only wait until I had spent all my money on the school and then see it close in the end," Yan said.

But Yan's efforts were not totally in vain. He attracted the attention of medial outlets, including national broadcaster China Central Television. "After the media covered us, we got more help and more and more people knew about the school," Yan said.

At the end of 2011, the school designed and sold calendars in a new fundraising campaign. On each page of the calendar, there is a picture of its teachers and students.

"I think we should find new ways to collect money," Zhang said. "We shouldn't put all the burdens on Yan's shoulders."

But Yan had different ideas. "I would prefer to have a professional team to raise money for the school and manage the school financially. This way, the teachers could put their whole attention into teaching," Yan said. "If it is always this difficult to run a private school for migrant workers' children, fewer people will do this and the conditions will get worse."