In the countryside, those lights never go out
——Revisited some of the winners of the honorary title of "Most Beautiful Rural Teacher"
Editor's note
"Use sincere emotions to truly record the spiritual character of rural teachers' selfless dedication and willingness to be a ladder." On June 17, 2011, a large-scale series of public welfare activities jointly organized by Guangming Daily and Beijing Radio and Television Station was launched. Taking rural primary and secondary school teachers as the specific target, through in-depth search, discovery, and publicity of representative and high-quality rural teachers, we will promote the good customs of respecting teachers and valuing education in the whole society. When Teacher's Day approached that year, 10 teachers including Shi Lansong, Zhang Guimei, and Ren Ying were selected. In the second year, the event was jointly sponsored by China Central Television and Guangming Daily. In more than 100 days, hundreds of reporters participated in the search, covering 22 provinces, cities, and autonomous regions. Since then, reporters from all over the Guangming Daily and colleagues from CCTV and other media went to various places to search, and the deeds of "the most beautiful rural teachers" were widely spread.
These years have passed, how are the "most beautiful rural teachers" all right? What changes have been made to the teaching situation in their village? Recently, a number of our reporter stations have cooperated to pay a return visit to some of the winners of the honorary title of "Most Beautiful Rural Teacher".
The original intention has not changed: the concept of teaching and educating people is deeply rooted in the homeland
On September 22, at Chengguan Hope Primary School in Linquan County, Anhui Province, under a fruitful persimmon tree, Ren Ying sat in a wheelchair and said affectionately: "Thank you for the activity of'Looking for the Most Beautiful Rural Teachers' for bringing rural education together. Rural teachers have received more attention and care." As the honorary recipient of the first "Most Beautiful Rural Teacher", Ren Ying still remembers the scene of the activities at that time.
In 1986, Ren Ying, who was in his second year of high school, suffered from rheumatoid arthritis known as the "undead cancer". Later, his condition deteriorated and his whole body was paralyzed.
She took the college entrance examination twice, but failed to enter the university due to physical reasons.
The double blow of disillusionment of ideals and physical paralysis push Ren Ying to the bottom of his life.
In order not to hinder her family, she committed suicide twice, and was pulled back from death by her family.
Gradually, the care of family and society awakened Ren Ying's hope in life, allowing her to rediscover the value of life.
Ren Ying started self-study and insisted on making up lessons for the children in the village.
In 1998, the family built two thatched houses as quickly as possible, and used long wooden boards to set up school desks.
Ren Ying also used a branch with the shell of a waste syringe to make a "lengthened chalk" to practice writing on the blackboard.
This is how she has taught children for 22 years.
Ren Ying named the school "Hope Primary School".
She said: "The reason for the name'Hope' is because I love education. This is my hope in life. At the same time, I also hope that rural education will have great promise and that more children will become talents." From a preschool in 1998 With 24 students, it currently covers more than 300 students in 6 grades of elementary school. Over the past 22 years, thousands of students have come out of here.
With the expansion of urban construction, 20 years later, Renying’s school was changed from Renzhuang, Chengguan Town, to Chengnan Street.
Ren Ying also passed the self-study exam to obtain the second-level psychological counselor certificate, and served as the vice president of Linquan County Youth Entrepreneurship Federation.
Now, Ren Ying faces another life choice.
Since 2016, the school will be demolished due to urban construction.
"Even if there is a student, I have to run the school. This is my original intention and will not change." Ren Ying said with a smile.
Also on September 22, there was a sound of reading in Diaowang teaching site, Dalongdong Village, Xiyan Town, Shanglin County, Nanning City, Guangxi. Shi Lansong, the only teacher in the teaching site and the first honorary winner of "Most Beautiful Rural Teacher", was using multimedia teaching equipment Give Chinese lessons to 4 students in the second grade.
After school, he also sailed to escort the students home.
Several iron-skinned motor boats docked at a distance of less than 10 meters from the Diaowang teaching point in a straight line, among which the red iron shed boats are particularly conspicuous.
Shi Lansong put on his life jacket and stopped beside the red iron shed to welcome the students aboard.
"Teacher Shi, here we are!" "Teacher Shi, my life jacket is not ready yet"... The students walked to the lake together, Shi Lansong greeted the boat one by one, checked the way of wearing their life jackets, and arranged to sit firmly. Support well.
With the sound of a "da da da" mechanical sound, the ship slowly started and sailed to the other shore.
In 1985, because of a request from a superior leader that "children in the mountains cannot live without a teacher, you should return to the current teacher in the village", the young Shi Lansong came to Diaowang teaching site and quietly took root in teaching and educating people.
Dalongdong Village is located in the Shishan Reservoir area. The children near Diaowang, Neizezhuang and Shipan are all going to school at the Diaowang teaching site. Between the village and the teaching site is a steep cliff and bottomless lake. Taking a detour to school is time-consuming and laborious, and taking a private bamboo raft to school is dangerous.
In order to make it easier for more children to go to school, Shi Lansong cut down the chrysanthemum tree in front of his house and asked someone to build a small wooden boat, and rowed the children to and from school every day.
Shi Lansong persisted in this way and broke eight wooden boats one after another, but there has never been a student falling into the water.
Shi Lansong's deeds gradually became known to the outside world. Caring people raised money to purchase a metal motor boat for the school. Shi Lansong named the motor boat "the ship of hope".
"This'ship of hope' is not only a means of transportation for children to go to and from school, but also a boat of hope for them to the outside world and into the future." Shi Lansong said.
If Shi Lansong used the boat of hope to carry the students in the mountains to the good, then, on the Huaibei Plain, Ren Ying used a sickly body to build a school that holds hope for the students.
Fortunately in this life: witness and participate in the transformation of rural education
"Kapok loves warmth in the south, and birch trees are cold-resistant and guard the northern border..." On September 22, second-year students of Rulin Primary School in Yongfa Town, Chengmai County, Hainan Province read the text "Song of Trees" in unison.
Zeng Weifen, who gave lectures with crutches, still stood straight in front of the podium, just like the reporter saw him for the first time in 2014.
Zeng Weifen graduated as an "excellent graduate" in 1995 and was assigned to work in Chengmai Middle School.
One month before going to work, he accidentally broke his lumbar vertebrae, causing his lower body to become paralyzed.
Relying on self-taught massage and persistent rehabilitation training, in 2001, Zeng Weifen finally stood on the stage with crutches and became a rural teacher.
Nineteen years later, Zeng Weifen still clings to the rural podium with crutches, not only supporting the dreams and hopes of rural children, but also becoming a role model for students due to his self-reliance and self-reliance, and he has cultivated batches of outstanding graduates.
Only his lover Liang Lanhua knew that Zeng Weifen would still suffer from insomnia due to complications caused by paralysis.
What makes Zeng Weifen extremely gratified is that the school's running conditions have improved significantly.
The classrooms of Rulin Elementary School are now tiled and air-conditioned, and all kinds of books are neatly stacked in the book corner.
The government has also built a new teacher’s apartment, and each teacher is allocated a 40-square-meter suite as a lounge.
However, Zeng Weifen vacated his lounge for poverty alleviation cadres in the village who had no place to live for the time being because his home was close to the school.
Let us turn our attention from the South to the Northwest.
16 years ago, Wu Jian, a female college student with a ponytail, is not confused now, but she still has a sunny, simple and neat look, standing passionately on the podium of Yumin Primary School in Litong District, Wuzhong City, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region .
In 2004, Wu Jian left his hometown after graduating from university and came to the remote Biandangou Central School in Litong District, Wuzhong City, Ningxia to teach.
Originally, the teaching support period was only one year, but Wu Jian turned this short-term voluntary action into a lifetime choice.
In September 2013, Wu Jian was awarded the title of "Special Concern for Teachers" in "Finding the Most Beautiful Rural Teachers" launched by Guangming Daily.
In recent years, Wu Jian has used Biandangou as a sample to witness the butterfly change of rural education, and also used this as a window to see a China undergoing tremendous changes.
Most of the children attending Biandangou Central School come from families who have migrated from Xihaigu. Many children carry a cloth bag of dried food on Monday and eat it with boiling water until Friday.
Wu Jian said: "Later, the school had a nutritious lunch, and every meal was filled with meat. The children were nourished and clearly energetic."
In the past, children had to travel a long way. Now the school has more than a dozen free school buses. In the past, there were no dormitories in rural schools, and teachers who supported teaching could only live in the gatehouse. Now the school has built a turnover room, one for each person, with clear windows; The Biandangou Central School used to be all old bungalows from the 1980s. Nowadays, the new plastic playground, music room, art room, recording room, and hardware facilities are first-class in the city... The surrounding ecology has also improved, and the quilt is put on every morning The dust is gone.
Under the same blue sky, there are people with the same beliefs and the same struggle.
On September 22, it was drizzling.
Located on the campus of Bixi Primary School in Tongjiang County, Sichuan Province, in the mountains of Mang and Mang mountains, the bright five-star red flag is fluttering in the wind. Liao Zhanfu, holding a forehead thermometer, is at the school gate, orderly taking body temperature for students.
The 51-year-old Liao Zhanfu was transferred from the Shimiaozi Village teaching site to the central school Bixi Primary School only in the fall semester this year.
In 1988, Liao Zhanfu came to the Huotiangang teaching site of Bixi Primary School in Tongjiang County as a substitute teacher.
In order to keep him, he married Zhang Xingqiong, who had served as a substitute for lessons in Huotiangang eight years ago, and married with the villagers.
Later, Liao Zhanfu was admitted as a formal teacher, and was transferred to the Shimiaozi teaching site, facing his wife Zhang Xingqiong across the mountain. He and his wife set up a school.
For more than 30 years, the couple let two small mountain villages out of more than 20 college students.
Their deeds were reported by major media. In 2013, Liao Zhanfu and Zhang Xingqiong were named "the most beautiful rural teachers in the country".
At that time, the Shimiaozi teaching site was a temple built during the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty. The classrooms were rebuilt from side rooms on both sides.
"The lighting is not good, so I can only teach under weak natural light. After a long time, my eyes are aching." Liao Zhanfu was most worried about wind and rain. "Once there was a strong wind, the roof of the classroom was lifted, and the tiles rolled off. The film almost hurt the students."
In 2014, the county finance allocated funds to build a new school building of more than 100 square meters of brick-concrete structure 300 meters next to the temple. Liao Zhanfu's concerns were completely resolved.
Nowadays, the central school has not only built teaching buildings and student dormitories, but also built a new teacher turnover room, and has all kinds of facilities and equipment for function rooms such as music, sports, and computers.
In 2017, Shanglin County equipped each teaching site with whiteboards and multimedia equipment, and Diaowang said goodbye to blackboards and chalkboards.
"In the past, teaching was done by myself. Now there are multimedia teaching resources, teaching is much more convenient." Shi Lansong said cheerfully.
Shi Lansong made use of the teaching resources on the platform, chose to download some courseware, and taught based on the actual situation of the students.
This set of equipment is very versatile. Shi Lansong was full of praise for the whiteboard equipment with blackboard function during the demonstration. He said that some have not finished learning and will continue to learn.
"In recent years, the school has changed a lot, and the traditional teaching model has also brought changes." Shi Lansong said with emotion.
Standing on the playground and looking out, the hillsides and lake banks in front of and behind the house have been reinforced, and fences have been installed along the lake.
The dormitory, reading room, and toilets have been built. In the clean and tidy canteen, refrigerators, warmers, disinfection cabinets, and stainless steel dining tables are all available. The kitchen has a dedicated person in charge, which relieves Shi Lansong a lot of work.
The light of hope: illuminate the dream life of children
The country is different from the city.
In China, no matter how remote villages are, no education is absent; no matter how remote village schools are, the power of love is gathered.
On September 1, Yunnan ushered in the first day of offline school. All major, primary and secondary schools listened to the innovative ideological and political brand course "Zhang Guimei Ideological and Political Lecture" hosted by the Education Leading Group of the Yunnan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China. The first lecture was by Zhang Guimei "The Power of Faith".
In the lecture hall, Zhang Guimei deeply talked about the reason why she founded Huaping Free Girls High School.
Zhang Guimei is also the winner of the title of "Most Beautiful Rural Teacher".
More than 20 years ago, Zhang Guimei, who was still teaching at Huaping County Minority Middle School, discovered that many parents from poor families in mountainous areas were unwilling to let girls continue to school.
When visiting a mountain village home, Zhang Guimei saw an underage girl crying by the roadside. It turned out that her parents wanted her to marry her for a dowry, but she did not want to marry and wanted to continue school.
Zhang Guimei went to the girl's house and repeatedly persuaded her parents to let the child continue school, and said that she was willing to bear all the school expenses of the girl.
But the girl's parents never agreed.
Zhang Guimei’s heart was deeply hurt. She vowed to open a free girls’ high school, so that more poor girls in mountainous areas can go to high schools for free and realize their college dreams, thereby blocking intergenerational poverty and changing poverty-stricken families in mountainous areas. fate.
In 2008, under Zhang Guimei's many years of running and calling, the country's first free girls' high school-Huaping Girls' High School was finally established.
In the past 12 years, many girls who graduated from junior high schools in Huaping County and even in the impoverished mountainous areas of Lijiang City have entered the school of Huaping Girls’ High School.
The enrollment rate of previous high school graduates is 100%, and more than 1,600 girls from impoverished mountainous areas have realized their college dreams.
This year's college entrance examination, among 159 candidates, 70 were on a book, and 17 of them scored 600 or more.
The girls who enroll in Huaping Girls’ High School each year generally have poor foundations. Why can they achieve such impressive results?
"Rely on perseverance! No matter how difficult the conditions are, we must persevere!" Zhang Guimei's answer was simple.
The “most beautiful rural teachers” we visited were all praised by the students as role models in their hearts, who were “burning themselves and illuminating others”.
At Bixi Primary School in Tongjiang County, Sichuan Province, in addition to being a class teacher and teaching Chinese, Liao Zhanfu also has another identity-an "ideological and political teacher" for all teachers in the school.
He gave party lessons to teachers, and subtly influenced every teacher in the school.
"Cultivating the most beautiful teenagers, cultivating the most beautiful teachers, and building the most beautiful school" is the goal of Bixi Primary School.
In the face of new positions, what Liao Zhanfu often hears is the words that retired wife Zhang Xingqiong, the most beautiful rural teacher in the country, repeatedly urged him, "Lao Liao, if you work at the central school, you must not lose our'most beautiful country in the country. The true qualities of a rural teacher should not only be a good example for everyone, but also set a good benchmark in their hearts, and strive to be a qualified teacher in the new era!"
At Chengguan Hope School in Linquan County, Anhui, the teachers called Ren Ying "Second Sister". Many teachers were moved by Ren Ying's deeds and chose to come to the school to teach. Li Hua is one of them.
Li Hua’s classmates had been teaching at Hope School. They learned about Ren Ying’s deeds from their classmates. Li Hua, who graduated from the Normal School, decided to apply.
"From the comment on the first trial, I knew this was a sentimental person." With the encouragement of Ren Ying, Li Hua took the undergraduate diploma by herself. She originally studied fine arts, and now she is also taking math classes.
After having a child, Li Hua did not hesitate to take the child to school, "I want the child to follow the second sister as an example and be a self-improving person."
Countless perseverance: Let the "small village" become the most beautiful scenery in the countryside
For Liao Zhanfu, this fall semester has become a new starting point for his work.
As people continue to buy houses in cities and towns, there are fewer and fewer students in the village.
In the new semester, only four students from the Shimiaozi teaching site were promoted to the central school Bixi Primary School. He never recruited new students. Liao Zhanfu, who had worked in the village for 32 years, had to return to the central school to teach.
Seeing that the environment is getting better and there are fewer and fewer students, Zeng Weifen is equally worried.
He told reporters that in recent years, with the demolition and merger of rural primary schools, most of the children have been transferred to the central school in the town. Rulin Primary School is one of the few rural schools that have been retained, but only 1 to 3 have been established. Grades may also be merged in the future.
In 35 years, one crop after crop of students walked out of the mountain under the escort of Shilan Song, and the number of students in teaching sites has decreased year by year. “There were 12 in 2018, 8 in 2019, and now only 4 are left. "Shi Lansong said, "As long as there are students coming, I will try my best to teach well."
Such troubles also made Ren Ying hesitate.
With the development of urbanization and the withdrawal of schools, more and more parents send their children to the county towns to study. "At the most, we have more than 300 students, and the playground is full of children, which is gratifying." Ren Ying said in her eyes. Somewhat dim, "Now there are only more than 20 students, but we still have to classify as 6 grades."
"Due to the rapid progress of urbanization, the level of urban and rural development, and the continued existence of income gaps in the region, rural education issues have become increasingly complex and diverse." Wu Zhihui, Dean of the China Institute of Rural Education Development of Northeast Normal University, told reporters, "When county compulsory education develops When imbalance meets urbanization, it further triggers the transformation of counties and towns into large schools and the small-scale rural schools, which intensifies the complexity of solving the problem of uneven education development."
In the view of Chu Changlian, deputy director of the Department of Education of Anhui Province, the obvious progress in rural education has benefited from the implementation of the “two exemptions and one subsidy” and “compulsory education” policies, which enable more poor children to easily enter the classroom and complete Nine-year compulsory education.
The popularization of distance education has expanded the horizons of rural children, and they have more room for knowledge.
"However, the current loss of outstanding teachers in rural primary and secondary schools is very serious. Rural teacher capital is inherently insufficient, and there is no alternative but to suffer the pain of loss and severe ischemia."
The famous educator Gu Mingyuan believes that at least for a long period of time, rural schools cannot die, and the historical mission of village schools cannot be ended.
“It’s easy for schools in a place to be merged. Without students, they will be merged naturally, but the possibility of recovery will be very small.” Gu Mingyuan believes that if rural primary schools have not been merged, it is best to keep them and run them well. This can at least ensure that the children go to school nearby, they can enjoy the care of their grandparents, and the family can save money.
The report of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China described the blueprint of rural revitalization with "prosperous industry, livable ecology, civilized rural customs, effective governance, and affluent life".
To truly modernize the countryside, we must first do a good job in rural education, so that generations of rural children who are educated, ambitious, and rooted in the countryside can rejuvenate their hometown and realize their life ideals.
"The village is here, and teachers with culture, ideals and sentiments will come, and there will be culture in the village, and the power to lead people upward." For this reason, Gu Mingyuan called for no hesitation in hardware investment. The local government will provide necessary economic compensation for rural education; in terms of the provision of teachers, we will strive to inject fresh blood into rural education and make the village the most beautiful scenery in the country.
The National Education Conference held in September 2018 proposed that rural schools should obtain more high-quality educational resources, and more education investment should be used to strengthen the construction of rural teachers.
"The difficulty and focus of realizing educational modernization lies in rural areas. Without rural modernization, there would be no modernization of Chinese education. Under the background of the joint promotion of educational modernization and targeted poverty alleviation, we should clarify the current situation of rural education development and complement the shortcomings of rural education. It is the key to the modernization of education and the top priority of the development of education in our country." Professor Zhang Maocong of Shandong Normal University believes.
In the interview, these rural teachers said that the sky of rural children also needs to be illuminated, and they are willing to use candles to illuminate the children's progress.
"The loss of students is an objective phenomenon, but our village teachers are not left." Ren Ying said.
(This newspaper reporter Chang He, Zhou Shixing, Li Xiaodong, Zhou Hongshuang, Wang Jianhong, Zhang Wenpan, Wang Xiaoying, Chen Yi, Zhang Yong, reporters Li Xuequn, Cheng Cong, Li Qiang jointly write)