by Liu Zhoupeng
LHASA, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Joyful Tibetan songs echo through the mountains and valleys surrounding a primary school as students on the playground dance in harmony to the rhythms of Tibetan folk dances, their hands and feet moving in unison to form graceful spins and leaps.
The special Tibetan-style calisthenics performed at the school in the rural area of Nyingchi, southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, combined ethnic arts and physical sports, with music played over loudspeakers.
Inspired by Guozhuang, a Tibetan group dance from pastoral areas and a national intangible cultural heritage item, it filled the air with energy. Although I did not understand the Tibetan lyrics, the rhythmic melody captivated me, and I found myself swaying to the infectious cheerfulness of the music.
When I think of remote schools, my mind often conjures images of rudimentary conditions -- battered desks and chairs, cramped playgrounds and eyes full of longing for knowledge, yet constrained by the limitations of the schools' resources.
However, when I visited the primary school nestled amidst verdant mountains at an altitude close to 4,000 meters, the marvelous facilities shattered my stereotypes.
The classrooms are equipped with touch-screen teaching systems, advanced experimental equipment and heaters. The school also boasts both indoor and outdoor basketball courts, along with two football fields designed for 10 and 14 players, respectively.
The school principal, Li Jianyuan, told me that the improved teaching facilities stand in stark contrast to more than a decade ago, when teachers and students relied on yak dung stoves for heating and spent a considerable amount of time fetching water and cooking. He attributed this substantial improvement to China's paired-up assistance in developing Xizang.
"Under the paired-up assistance policy, children in the plateau region now receive better education than ever before, with teachers from other parts of China sent to the region to support education, and significant investments directed into improving resources," Li said.
Novel teaching methods introduced from outside the region have also inspired local teachers, bringing fresh ideas and approaches to their classrooms.
The Tibetan language teachers, for example, have combined well-known Tibetan folk song melodies with Tibetan letters to create catchy songs, making the class more engaging and helping students memorize Tibetan letters more easily.
At a Tibetan calligraphy class, an extracurricular session held every week, I met fifth-grader Konchog Rapten. He told me the teacher taught them how to properly hold and move the writing brush.
"I feel like I'm giving life to the strings of Tibetan characters under my fingers," said the boy, adding that he would like to go to a university in Beijing and become a teacher back home after graduation.
Currently, most of the nearly 400 students at the school come from high-altitude pastoral areas, with the farthest student's home located more than 50 km away. To avoid the daily journey across mountains and valleys, most students, including Konchog Rapten, choose to live in dormitories.
According to a white paper released on Friday, boarding schools play a vital role in providing education to children from remote farming and pastoral areas, where accessing schools can be challenging due to high altitude, harsh natural environments, extremely low population density and long distances.
Students and parents can choose if they wish to board at schools, and students can go home during weekends and holidays, said the white paper issued by the State Council Information Office.
Konchog Rapten returns home every two weeks. Out of curiosity, I followed him home one weekend and had the opportunity to meet his father, Wangdu.
Wangdu, a herder, proudly showed me dozens of awards won by Konchog Rapten and his elder brother, an eighth grader, in various exams and contests.
Thanks to the educational policy in Xizang, the children can go to school free of charge and enjoy an annual subsidy of 5,620 yuan (about 783 U.S. dollars) per person under the region's "Three Guarantees" policy -- providing food, accommodation, and school expenses for preschool to senior high school students from farming and herding households.
Wangdu feels reassured by the excellent academic performances of his two sons in school.
"This boundless green pasture amidst the mountains and valleys is where our ancestors have lived for generations. Now, I'm glad that education has given my sons new choices. They can choose to stay here or venture out to explore the world," he told me.
I could not agree more. His words reminded me of Champa, the son of a herder I once interviewed in northern Xizang. Having only seen the outside world on TV, he went to university in the coastal city of Zhuhai, where he saw the ocean for the first time. After graduation, he chose to chase his dreams at sea and became an offshore oilfield worker.
Education is the light that broadens young minds, ignites dreams and empowers them to chase those dreams. In Xizang, education is nurturing talent and laying the foundation for a brighter future, both for the region and the nation as a whole. ■
