A rural school to vanish(3/5)

Ma Junqiang said that some parents will not send their children to the better-equipped township school, many kilometers from their home. Thus, Ma believes that Shizigou Primary School will remain even if there is only one pupil left at the school.(Photo/cnwest.com)

Shizigou Primary School lies in isolation, 7.5 kilometers away from the mountainous Yuchuan Township. The school has only one teacher and four students. Ma Junqiang, 55, has been working as a teacher in rural primary schools for 37 years.

Due to a resettlement program, many residents from the mountains have set up new homes at the foot of the mountains. Moreover, many parents will move to live with their children in the cities where they make their living. Ma Junqiang told the reporter that rural primary schools like Shizigou Primary School will disappear as children have a better chance of a good education in schools off the mountains.