An end to long-distance learning

Kakyitso has taught in Hainan Tibetan autonomous prefecture in Qinghai province for 21 years. Before 2009, when she was transferred to No 1 Minzu Boarding Primary School in Gonghe county, she had already worked in three towns in the prefecture.

Because of the mountainous terrain of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the distances between villages can be huge, while the extreme weather conditions dissuade new arrivals so there aren't enough qualified teachers to allow every village to run even a small school.

In 1996, Kakyitso taught a class that had just six students. "The students lived a long way from the school and on snowy days, they couldn't attend. It was a very difficult time; we were so poor we couldn't afford coal so we had to burn dried animal feces," she said.

At that time, there were only two teachers at the primary school that had just three grades - one to three. Kakyitso taught all the subjects, including Chinese, math, music and physical education.

"We didn't have a computer then, so I learned the songs for the music class by listening to tapes," she said.

The area was so poor that some families couldn't afford the tuition fees of about 60 yuan ($10) per semester. Kakyitso and the other teacher often paid the students' fees out of their own pockets, even though they only earned about 800 yuan a month each.

To address the problem, the prefecture's government has been trying to reallocate resources since 2009. Small primary schools in isolated villages were closed, and the students and teachers were transferred to bigger schools in towns. The sheer size of the prefecture - an area of more than 40,000 square meters - makes it difficult for students to travel long distances between home and school every day. As a result, boarding schools were built, including No 1 Minzu Boarding Primary School of Gonghe county.

"It's good, but many of the kids are too young to live so far from their families," said Kakyitso, who now only teaches one subject, Chinese. She has 55 students, most of whom are Tibetan.

Instead of two-day weekends every seven days, the school gives students a seven-day holiday every month so they can visit their families.

"They have to get up at 6:40 am and start their reading class at 7:30. When school ends at 8 pm they return to their dormitory - it's such a long day for them. Compared with what went before, the students are under much more pressure, but now at least they have better teachers and study conditions," said Kakyitso.

(China Daily 01/09/2014 page6)