Rural schools provide a home away from home

School bus

The school bus picks up students from their homes on Monday and takes them back on Friday afternoons.

"There are always several kids who cry when they have to leave school on weekends," Yu said.

The Second Primary School in Doujiang Town has also joined the beautiful school project, with a focus on girls' physical health.

Every semester, Principal Lu Guilian gives lectures on physical health for those ages 9 to 12, who are entering puberty. In the past, girls often went to Lu's office to ask what to do when they started menstruating.

"The panic they experienced made me realize that I needed to educate them more about their bodies," she said.

The girls' restrooms are equipped with doors and trash cans with lids to protect the students' privacy. In addition, sanitary pads are available at all times in the principal's office.

The teachers at the boarding school are like parents to the students. "Being closest to them, we are obliged to take good care of them," Lu said.

The school environment improvement project has been launched in five provincial-level regions: the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region; Chongqing; the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, Guizhou province; and Yunnan province. It benefits more than 150,000 students in over 300 schools, and plans are being finalized to expand the program to help 300,000 more children.

Heping Primary School has one of the highest scores in China. A plaque hanging on the doorway bears characters that read "Sanjiang county's Beautiful School", followed by four red stars.

No school has yet received the full score of five stars.

"We would like to try," said Yang, the principal, adding that he just wants things to continue improving for the children.

"All my colleagues are fighting for a better life for the children."