Couple change 1,000 lives by running school

A couple who have been the only teachers in a remote village in Southwest China's Chongqing for 22 years have shared their love and wisdom with their students and, in the process, demonstrated the ethics and sense of responsibility today's teachers exemplify.

As a result of the efforts of 57-year-old Wang Pu and his 53-year-old wife, Zhang Wenfang, to inspire students to pursue their dreams and put an end to passing on poverty, some 1,000 local children have been educated, and more than 100 went on to college.

In 1999, at his mother's request, Wang left his post as a math teacher at a middle school to become a teacher at Pu'an Primary School.

The 600-square-meter school, founded in the 1980s, has a single two-story building with classrooms on the first floor, and a canteen and dormitories on the second. It is the only school in Pu'an village, which is in Zhongxian county.

Located in a remote mountainous area, Pu'an sits 700 meters above sea level and is about 23 kilometers from the center of the nearest town. It has a registered population of more than 2,000, but fewer than 400 actual residents, according to Tian Dongbo, a village official.

Wang said that it was his mother, a selfless woman and former middle school teacher, who encouraged him to help out in Pu'an, despite having to take a 30 percent cut to his salary. Pu'an was his mother's hometown and the place where he was born.

Six years later, his wife joined him as a kindergarten teacher.

Wang said that this semester, there are two grade 2 students and five kindergarten students, all of whom are either left-behind children－whose parents are migrant workers－or from poor families.

As the only primary schoolteacher, Wang takes a comprehensive approach. He teaches many classes, including Chinese language, math, music and physical education.

"My wife's job is more exhausting," he said, adding that their teaching also blends into their lives. In addition to education, they also have to take care of the students.

At noon, they cook lunch together for them, and Zhang volunteers to wash their clothes. To make the school a home for children who live far away, the couple give up their own beds for them to nap in summer.

"Teacher Wang and Teacher Zhang are very kind to my daughters," said Tian Zeman, the father of three girls attending the school.

Unable to work because his wife is ill, Tian has to look after both her and his parents. He said Wang and his wife treat his daughters as if they were their own, washing their clothes and even buying them new ones. "I don't want to get emotional," said Wang, refusing to talk more about helping the students. "Being a teacher for over 40 years, I try to treat my students, 22 from this village, fairly and help them, if needed."

Tian Dongbo also expressed appreciation for the couple.

"They are highly regarded by the villagers for ensuring our children can attend compulsory education," Tian said, adding that the next closest school is 15 km away and the children are too young to become boarders.

If it weren't for the two teachers keeping the village school open, he said, parents would be forced to rent accommodations elsewhere so that their children could attend school.

Wang has seen attendance decrease over the years, from more than 200 students and five teachers in 1999 to only seven students and two teachers this year. He said that's because some villagers have migrated to nearby cities and towns in search of better jobs and living conditions. "Teacher Wang has always been my teacher, at school and at work," said 47-year-old Yu Jiang, who was one of Wang's students over 30 years ago and is now an educator himself.

Appointed headmaster six years ago at Wangshui Primary School, to which Pu'an Primary School is affiliated, Yu has invited the couple to teach at Wangshui on a number of occasions, but they declined.

"Their sense of responsibility, commitment, patience and love for the students has been a great inspiration," Yu said.

Zhang said: "I found life here a little boring when I first arrived. But the longer I stay, the stronger my attachment to the kids grows. I will stay and take care of them, and I hope they'll grow up happily."

Over the years, conditions at the school have improved greatly. It now has a cement playground, basketball hoops and Wi-Fi. Wang and Zhang get regular teacher training in the county. Two broad-leaved trees he planted in the playground during his second year at the school have now grown over 20 meters tall.

They also have a garden, in which they grow vegetables to feed themselves and their students.

In 2020, they lost their son at the age of 28 as the result of a sudden illness. Wang said due to the pain of losing their only son, they now rarely return to their home in Zhongxian county. They prefer to stay at the school, taking care of the students and of each other.

The couple enjoy a quiet life, cooking and planting vegetables. Knowing that there are teachers to replace them, Wang said that he and his wife might travel a little bit once they retire in two years' time.

To attract more teachers to rural areas and improve teaching quality, China is working on measures to improve salaries and subsidies for rural teachers, to better their working and living conditions, and to upgrade their level of education. In addition, colleges will continue to offer preferential enrollment for students from rural central and western regions.