Three kids, one teacher: how a tiny Chinese school keeps the flame of learning alive
The lone teacher in a tiny mountain village with a shrinking population remains committed to her young charges
Bajiao Junior School may have only three pupils and one teacher, but it clings to its mission of educating children from a mountain village in southwest China.
The school’s enrolment has been shrinking since the 1990s in tandem with the population decline in the village of Bajiao in Chongqing municipality, as China’s urbanisation programme accelerated and many of the younger residents moved elsewhere to work.
When it opened in 1950, Bajiao Junior had around 100 students in six grades. Today it only teaches pupils from the first to the third grade.
After that, students transfer to nearby Guancang Junior, which supports its much smaller peer financially and regularly sends over teachers to help out.
Despite its small size, Bajiao – which now has less than 3,000 mainly elderly residents – recently embarked on a renovation to ensure it can continue to educate the local children.
During the renovation this year, the classroom was refurbished while new books were provided for the library.