Photo shows Li Zhanrong teaching Chinese literature class on May 23. (Photo: WWW.News.cn) One teacher and five students. That's all the students and faculty of Gaoshi Learning Center (originally Gaoshi Elementary School) at Long Dam district of Kang County, Longnan City, in northwest China’s Gansu Province. Li Zhanrong is the teacher and the chief of the learning center. The five students are freshmen Tian Ting and Fu Haixia, kindergarten students Zhang Ying, Tian Jie and Zhang Baojuan. Li started teaching at the school in 1979, and witnessed the transition of Gaoshi Elementary School. In the 1980s, the school had its highest number of people, including three teachers and more than 70 students. The faculty decreased each year, and by the end of 1990s, only Li himself and about 40 students were left.
Photo shows teacher Li eating instant noodles as his lunch because of an electricity outage on May 23. (Photo: WWW.News.cn) In 2012, Gaoshi Elementary School became a learning center. "In China’s remote mountain area, families who can afford to send their kids to the school in the town, but those kids who are from poor can only study at a learning center," said Li. By October 2016, among the 945 learning centers in Longnan city, there are 618 learning centers made up of students numbers under 10. The learning center, which is called ‘Sparrow School,’ is the only way to learn for those kids who live in the remote mountain area. In recent years, the local government has been making great efforts on digitalizing education in the area to improve education environment of learning center.
