From horseback classrooms to digital lessons: A school transforms lives in Xinjiang

(ECNS) -- Decades ago, a teacher in a remote pastureland in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region rode from one herding camp to another, carrying a small blackboard and a few textbooks on horseback.

A copper bell hanging from his saddle announced his arrival. Wherever herders pitched their tents, he would set up a classroom, and children would gather for lessons.

Today, students in the same mountain valley travel to school by bus and take lessons on digital screens.

At Beitashan Pasture Primary School, located in Beitashan Pasture in the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps' Sixth Division near China's border with Mongolia, the transformation of education has unfolded over generations.

The school is the only one in the area, which lies on the eastern edge of the Junggar Basin. With an average altitude of more than 3,000 meters and strong winds on nearly 300 days a year, the remote pastureland presents challenges for both daily life and education.

"Things have changed a lot over the years," said Hu Rimanhan Abudukeba, a retired teacher at the school, now 79.

As a child, Hu followed his family's sheep across different pastures. His teacher, Xia Lifu Khan Tulekebai, traveled on horseback, carrying a small blackboard and textbooks, with a copper bell hanging from his saddle.

The teacher moved from one herding site to another, holding classes wherever families had settled. When children heard the bell, they knew their teacher had arrived. The mobile teaching arrangement came to be known locally as the "school on horseback."

In the autumn of 1955, the pastureland got its first permanent school. A wall coated with black paint served as a blackboard, while a makeshift desk consisted of a wooden plank resting on several wooden supports. Hu learned to write there under Xia's guidance.

With the education he received, Hu later went from being a shepherd boy to becoming a teacher at the same school.

The journey to school looks very different for today's pupils.

One recent morning, sixth-grader Aysulu Serikbay, who lives in Caojianlian, a pastoral area, put on her backpack and boarded a school bus.

The bus takes students home free of charge every Friday and brings them back to school after the weekend.

"I really like the school bus. It has air conditioning in summer and heating in winter, so it's very comfortable," she said.

Her father, Serikbay Nurahamat, works in border patrol and attended the same school as a child. Back then, his family lived more than 30 kilometers from the school. He and his friends had to walk the distance together, a journey that took considerable time.

After starting his own family, he moved to Caojianlian. Now, his daughter can simply take a school bus to get to class, a change that gives him peace of mind.

Inside the classroom, the differences are just as striking.

During a Chinese language lesson, teacher Liu Zhao switched on an interactive display, showing students an animated presentation of the text. The class then read a classical Chinese poem together, with Liu slowing down his speech and guiding the children through each line.

In the same mountain valley where a teacher once carried a blackboard on horseback, lessons are now delivered through digital screens.

The school also provides boarding facilities and meals for students whose families live far away. Under a government meal subsidy program for boarding students, each pupil pays 545 yuan per semester for meals.

"The school is wonderful. It has beautiful teaching buildings and dormitories, as well as a running track. My dad is quite envious of me," Aysulu said.

She sometimes brings Liu a traditional dairy snack called nanguru (milk curds) made by her mother.

"I especially like Teacher Liu's Chinese lessons. He often tells us about the beautiful landscapes across China. I hope to get into a junior high school in Xinjiang and go beyond the mountains to see a bigger world," she said.

Liu is also the school's principal. He moved there last year from a primary school in Wujiaqu, a city in Xinjiang. Every two weeks, he makes a 400-kilometer drive to return home.

But he said the children's parents face even greater challenges.

More than 70 percent of the pupils have family members engaged in border patrol work, according to the school. These family members spend about 10 days each month stationed in the mountains, unable to return home. Many children have lived at the school since first grade.

"Their parents are up in the mountains guarding the border and can only come home for a few days each month. Once the children are entrusted to us, we have to take good care of them," Liu said.