As a "straight through nation" living in Ximeng County, Awa Mountains, Yunnan Province, the Wa people have maintained a primitive living condition for a long time due to the barriers of mountains and deep valleys for thousands of years, and their education is a blank sheet of paper.
The establishment of Ximeng No. 1 Middle School has built a bridge for the development of Washan education.
From two teachers and 13 students at the beginning of the school to more than 150 teachers and more than 1,800 students now; from only recruiting junior high school students, to developing into the only complete middle school with ordinary high school education in the county; From 40.86% of the college entrance examination online rate in 2007, to 100% of the college entrance examination online rate now... This frontier middle school helps more students who have "passed the ethnicity" to get out of the mountains, and it is also using development to tell the story of the "improvement of ethnic education in my country's border areas". quality upgrade” story.
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In early August, the second batch of undergraduate and preparatory courses in Yunnan Province began to be admitted.
The moment she found out the admission results, Na Hua, a 19-year-old Wa girl, finally let go of her heart after more than a month. She was admitted to the Yunnan Nationalities University majoring in Chinese minority language and literature (Wa language).
Three years ago, when Nahua first entered the Qinyuan Hope High School class of Ximeng Wa Autonomous County No. 1 Middle School (hereinafter referred to as "Ximeng No. 1 Middle School"), she told the class teacher Wang Chunlin that she wanted to become a teacher.
Now, she is one step closer to her goal.
This year, a total of 280 students from Ximeng No. 1 Middle School participated in the college entrance examination. Among them, 4 students went online in one book, 23 students in the second book, and the rest were all admitted to junior colleges. This is the fourth year of Ximeng No. 1 Middle School.
Ximeng County, located in the Awa Mountains in southwestern Yunnan Province, has a long border with Myanmar.
Because of the high mountains and deep valleys, for thousands of years, the Wa people living here have maintained the primitive living state of knotting knots, carving wood to count, and using leaves and feathers as "letters", and education is a blank sheet of paper.
In 1956, from the end of primitive society and the early stage of slave society, they crossed several social forms and directly transitioned to socialist society, becoming one of the "straight-crossing nations" in our country.
In September 1959, the establishment of Ximeng No. 1 Middle School built a bridge for the long-term development of Washan education.
From two teachers and 13 students at the beginning of the school to more than 150 teachers and more than 1,800 students; from only recruiting junior high school students, to developing into the only complete middle school with ordinary high school education in the county ( A school with both junior high school and senior high school—reporter's note); from 40.86% of the college entrance examination online rate in 2007, to 100% of the college entrance examination online rate now... This border middle school helps more students who "go straight to the nationality" While walking out of the mountains, it is also using development to tell the story of the "quality upgrade" of ethnic education in my country's border areas.
When the school starts in early September, Nahua will go out of Ximeng for the first time and go to Kunming to study with her second sister Nachan, who is studying at Yunnan Agricultural University.
In this regard, she was both apprehensive and full of anticipation.
Gradually enter the consciousness of reading
Wang Chunlin came to Ximeng No. 1 Middle School in 2000 to work.
That year, just in time for the relocation of Ximeng County from Mengka Town on the mountain to Mengsuo Town at the foot of the mountain, at that time, some teachers and students of Ximeng No. 1 Middle School moved to the new school first.
In the first year of work, there were 38 students in Wang Chunlin's class, which was also the total number of first-year students in Ximeng No. 1 Middle School.
As a foreign teacher, in addition to adapting to the new environment as soon as possible, she also has to deal with some situations she has never encountered before, such as the sudden drop out of students.
"The first time I went to the countryside to find students, I was very interested." Wang Chunlin said that a boy who was the monitor was called home by his parents, and she and her colleagues went to Mowo Village, Mowo Township, to check the situation. .
"After I went there, I found that his home was really difficult. The boy cried and wanted to come to study, but his parents disagreed. He felt that it would be very disadvantageous to keep such a good labor force in the school."
Such situations were often encountered by He Kaiwu before he went to work at Ximeng No. 1 Middle School in 2003.
Previously, he worked as a substitute teacher in a school in Damasan Village, Ximeng County, with only grades one to four.
In 2000, in order to promote the development of ethnic education, Yunnan Province began to implement the "three free" (free textbooks, incidental fees, and stationery fees) policy for students in township and village schools along the border.
Even so, many villagers are reluctant to let their children study.
One of He Kaiwu's important tasks before class every day is to go to the students' homes and call the students to come to school one by one. "If you don't call them, two-thirds of the students will go to the mountains to herd cattle."
He also asked parents "why don't let their children study", and their answers left a deep impression on He Kaiwu: "Who will let our cows go to study? Your teachers will pay you wages, and I will let your children study and no one will be there. Pay me."
In Amo Village, Xinchang Town, Ximeng County, since a nearby tin mine has introduced many foreign talents during the construction process, the Wa people in the village have access to these talents earlier than those in other parts of the county. Their attitudes towards education had already begun to change at that time.
Ye Jin was born in 1989, his parents were workers in a tin mine.
Seeing the advantages of well-educated people in their work, they supported Ye Jin in her studies since she was a child, and hoped that she could learn more knowledge and broaden her horizons.
At that time, it happened to catch up with the policy that the children of tin mine workers could go to the county town to study. Ye Jin started going to the county town to study with more than 40 other children in the factory since he was about 5 and a half years old.
She remembers that every time she went to school, her mother would put a ponytail on her, and this ponytail would "support" her study and life for at least a week.
"At that time, everyone was very young and couldn't take care of themselves. If you saw a bunch of unkempt children in the county town, it was basically us."
Compared with Ye Jin, who has the support of his parents, Zaan, a Lahu boy born in 1995, has always known that if he doesn't want to be a farmer all his life like his parents, reading is his way out.
"When I was a child, people in the village generally didn't pay attention to reading. My parents always felt that going to school was a waste of time and money." Zaan said that he has two older brothers. Do farm work.
Encouraged by the teacher, Za'an Primary School was admitted to Ximeng County Minzu Primary School when he was in the third grade.
He wanted to study in the county seat, but this would undoubtedly increase the financial burden of the family, so he cried and told his parents that as long as he was sent to school, he would be given a little living allowance.
In order to save more money, Zaan often chooses to walk home during holidays.
There are more than 60 kilometers of mountain roads from the school to the Yingbulonglahu group in Longkan Village, Wenggake Town, where his home is located.
"People in the stockade didn't like to read before, and I wanted to be a role model." In 2016, after graduating from Ximeng No. 1 Middle School, Zha'an was admitted to Yunnan Forestry Vocational and Technical College, and he and another cousin became a stockade. One of the first people to go out to college.
Poverty is no longer a stumbling block on the way to study
As a typical area that "passes through ethnic groups", Ximeng County integrates frontiers, ethnic groups, mountainous areas and poverty. It was once one of the areas with the deepest poverty and the most difficult poverty alleviation in Yunnan and even the whole country.
At the end of 2013, the county had 4 impoverished townships (towns), 34 impoverished villages, and 9,011 impoverished households with 29,563 persons, and the poverty incidence rate was as high as 36.64%.
Since 2005, Yunnan Province began to adjust the "three free" to "two exemptions and one subsidy" (no tuition fees, no textbook fees, and living allowances), which further reduced the economic burden of poor families in the compulsory education stage.
Manheng Village, Yuesong Township, where Nahua’s family is located, was once a key poverty-stricken village in Ximeng County. The family of five made a living by picking tea.
Although Nahua's parents do not object to their three daughters studying, they only plan to let them graduate from junior high school because of the small family income.
Nahua's eldest sister only graduated from junior high school. When her second sister, Nasu, graduated, her parents also told her to stop studying.
Na said very much: "I listened, but I didn't listen. At that time, I felt that I had to study."
On the opening day of Ximeng No. 1 Middle School, Na secretly packed her luggage to report to the school without the knowledge of her parents. Because the tuition fee was not paid, she was very uneasy along the way, and planned for the worst, if she could not pack her things and go home.
Fortunately, the head teacher Ding Yi understood her difficulties in time.
"He told me at the time that he could pay the tuition later, but later I found out that he helped pay for the tuition first." When she mentioned this, Na was very grateful.
From poverty alleviation to rural revitalization, more and more social attention has begun to focus on the development of Ximeng education.
Followed by a variety of financial aid policies for poor students.
According to the data released by the People's Government of Ximeng County, last spring, 297 people in Ximeng County received state bursaries for ordinary high schools, and 347,250 yuan were granted; , issued a subsidy of 311,250 yuan.
When it was Nahua's turn to go to high school, she happened to catch up with the "Qinyuan Hope High School Class" set up by the Yunnan Youth Development Foundation in Ximeng No. 1 Middle School to enroll students in the first year. A monthly living allowance will also be issued, and Na Hua successfully entered school.
As Na was admitted to Yunnan Agricultural University and became the first college student in the stockade, Na Hua also silently set a goal in her heart, she must go to university like her sister.
She said: "My family doesn't support it, my sister can do it, why can't I do it?"
After becoming the head teacher, Wang Chunlin roughly calculated that the subsidies from the state and the financial support from social caring people can basically cover 1/2 to 3/4 of the daily consumption of poor students in the class.
"Poverty did drop out students before, but now poverty is no longer the main factor preventing them from going to school."
How to help students break through themselves
Ximeng County in Dashanli is blocked by traffic, there is only one road leading to the outside world, and many students have not left the county until they graduate from high school.
But it is also this way that many teachers from outside come to Ximeng No. 1 Middle School with their knowledge.
When he first came, He Kaiwu, like many teachers, often shared the stories he had seen about the outside world with his students, encouraging them to study hard, and then go to a good school and find a good job in the future.
But he didn't expect that some students' reaction was "that's what the Han people did, and it has nothing to do with us."
In order to change the students' thinking, He Kaiwu will also use the study experience of some minority students around them to inspire them.
He said: "At that time, many students lacked the goal of reading and did not have the initiative to study. Setting an example can help them find the direction of their efforts."
Of the more than 40 students who went to the county seat with Ye Jin to study, only three persisted in high school.
Before entering high school, Ye Jin only knew that college students are very powerful characters, until she met her head teacher in Ximeng No. 1 Middle School, "She is also a local Wa ethnicity, and she suffered a lot in the process of studying, but she persevered. Her story inspires me a lot."
At that time, although Ye Jin had heard countless stories about the outside world from her teacher, in her heart, the outside world was still a vague concept.
At that time, the state increased its counterpart support for education in ethnic areas, and a series of support policies such as the "Notice on Promoting the Work of Matching Support for Schools in Eastern and Western Regions" and "Guiding Opinions on School Matching Support Work in Eastern and Western Regions" were also issued.
Shanghai Huangpu District supported Ximeng County, not only helping Ximeng No. 1 Middle School build a new teaching building, but also equipping it with the only multimedia device in the school.
It was this multimedia device that completely changed Ye Jin.
"Because the number is limited, many teachers have to make an appointment in advance to use it." Ye Jin remembers one time, the Chinese teacher showed them a movie called "The Loch Ness Monster" after class.
The vivid world brought by this film surprised her, "there are so many unsolved mysteries in the world", and it gave her the idea of going out to see it.
Later, Ye Jin was admitted to Yuxi Teachers College as he wished.
After graduating from university in 2013, she decided to return to her alma mater, Ximeng No. 1 High School, to teach.
As a political teacher, during the teaching process, Ye Jin often felt that he could see the shadow of himself in the students. "They are honest and honest, and their learning is hard work, and their flexibility is relatively poor."
At this time, Ye Jin will always tell students about his previous learning methods, and at the same time, he will organize students with better grades in the class to share their learning experience, hoping that students can find their own learning methods as soon as possible.
And the university study experience made her see the gap between the students who "go straight through the nation" and the students outside in terms of language expression ability and thinking ability.
"For example, debate competitions, I haven't been exposed to them before. Their language skills are stronger, and their thinking and analysis of problems are more comprehensive."
After changing roles, Ye Jin often encourages students to actively participate in school activities; during lectures, if there is content that can be used for debate, she will try to create opportunities for students.
"Some students may hesitate, but I will use my experience to encourage them to break boundaries and express their opinions bravely."
In Wang Chunlin's class, the weekly class meeting is an opportunity for students to share.
They sometimes read an article, and sometimes share information about occupations or majors they are interested in through the Internet... Through exercise, Wang Chunlin found that in the past, these people liked to answer questions together, or nodded and shook their heads to answer questions. Students, have been able to express themselves in front of the whole class.
Today, with the development and growth of the teachers of Ximeng No. 1 Middle School, the quality of teachers is also constantly improving.
He Kaiwu, vice president of the school, said that in the past, many old teachers in the school were junior college students, but now most of them are undergraduates, and some are postgraduates who have been teaching and stayed through the "Master of Education Teacher Training Program in Rural Schools".
From "rich pocket" to "rich head"
Through home visits, teachers from Ximeng No. 1 Middle School witnessed the new atmosphere brought by poverty alleviation to the countryside.
In the past, when teachers visited the village, the roads to enter the village were all dirt roads. Most of the students lived in thatched houses and asbestos-tile houses with poor sanitary conditions. Some poor families only had a pot and a tripod for cooking.
Today, not only the road into the village has become a hardened cement road, but the villagers have moved into brick-concrete bungalows and started to use household appliances such as TV sets and refrigerators, and their living habits and hygiene habits have also been greatly improved.
Fewer and fewer people smoke, and every household basically has tap water, and gradually changed the habit of drinking raw water...
In 2018, Ximeng County officially dropped out of the list of poverty-stricken counties, and took the lead in achieving overall poverty alleviation in the "straight-to-ethnic" areas across the country.
As a member of the "Hang Bao Gang" team, Ye Jin clearly felt that their cooperation in the management of students has improved during the process of communicating with parents in the village.
For example, when school is about to start, parents will take the initiative to supervise students to adjust their schedules; some parents may not understand the homework assigned by teachers, but they will urge students to complete them in time...
Due to the large number of parents who go out to work, many students of Ximeng No. 1 Middle School are now staying at home.
However, the head teacher Ye Jin often receives calls from parents asking about their children's recent performance in school.
"After parents go out to work, their educational concepts are gradually changing. Many people have no knowledge and can only do some physical work, so they will ask their children to study hard when they come back."
"There is basically no need for teachers to find students to study now." Wang Chunlin said that during the new crown pneumonia epidemic, some parents began to try to spend money to buy online courses for their children, and they became more willing to invest in education.
With the improvement of transportation, information and economic conditions, Wang Chunlin also found that in recent years, in order to allow their children to receive a better education, more and more parents in Ximeng County have sent their children to education in Pu'er, Qujing, Yuxi, Kunming, etc. There are better resources to go to school, and now many students start to study outside from primary school.
In addition, the mental outlook of the students is also quietly changing.
A few years ago, Ximeng No. 1 Middle School had two batches of volunteer teachers from Germany.
He Kaiwu observed that the students showed strong curiosity towards these teachers. Although many of them were not good at speaking English, they were still willing to show themselves and communicate actively.
He said: "The improvement of students' English ability in those two years is quite big."
From speaking Mandarin with a strong accent, to going to the city to compete and winning awards; from being shy, not good at words, to being cheerful and willing to communicate actively... Wang Chunlin said: "With more than 20 years of teaching career, I am very happy to witness these children from any content. I need teachers to teach, and gradually realize that what the teacher says is not necessarily correct, maybe the teacher doesn’t know as much as I do, and this confidence is becoming more and more obvious.”
Inject fresh blood into rural development
When it comes to the impact of high school education on the future development of students, Wang Chunlin always talks about the first class of students he has taught.
Although most people did not get into the junior college after three years, but after returning to the village, they still have a high degree of local education.
Because of their education, they are better at accepting new things than other villagers, and they dare to be "the first person to eat crabs" in the village.
Later, many of them became the beneficiaries of the national poverty alleviation policy, which not only changed their family's economic situation, but also became rich leaders who drove more villagers out of poverty.
Zaan is also trying to be that person.
From the first year he went to study in Kunming to return home from the Spring Festival holiday, he and his cousin organized a Spring Festival Gala every year in the stockade, inviting children studying in the village and talented adults to participate in the performance.
Zaan said that most of the people in the stockade are more introverted. By holding the party, I hope they can learn more fresh information from the outside world, and also see the changes brought by reading to individuals, which gradually drives their enthusiasm for reading.
In order to run the party well, they were almost busy from the first day of vacation to the end of the party performance.
Zaan said: "Adults mainly perform traditional ethnic songs; teach children popular dances and songs through videos, laying the foundation for them to show their best side in the future."
On the day the show started, almost everyone in the village would go to the stadium to watch the show.
Seeing the changes of Zaan, Zaan's parents' attitude towards reading gradually changed.
Later, with the support of his parents, he passed the "specialization promotion" exam and was admitted to Pu'er College to study agronomy.
Driven by such influence, the villagers also paid more and more attention to the education of their children. After that, five or six college students came out of the stockade.
After graduating last year, Zaan decided to return to his hometown to start a business: "Every time I come back, I feel that my hometown is developing very slowly. After thinking about it, I feel that my hometown needs more young people to build it better." He set his sights on unique Yunnan specialty wild honey.
With rich plant resources and a good ecological environment, there are a large number of wild bees such as giant hanging bees, tree acid bees, and soil acid bees on the mountains near Za'an's home.
In addition to planting rubber and sugar cane, the villagers usually go to the mountains to collect wild honey to increase their income, but they often worry about the sales of honey.
After seeing the huge opportunities brought by the Internet economy, Zaan also wanted to give it a try and promote the agricultural products in his hometown through the Internet.
After planning and learning, in November last year, together with his cousin, he opened his own account "An Siye" on the short video platform, and wrote in the introduction: I am a young man from the Lahu ethnic group in rural Pu'er, Yunnan. Look at our life when we go to the mountains to collect honey.
In his footage, he recorded the old man who came home from the mountain with the beehive on his back, the status of different honeys, and more of it showed the process of villagers collecting honey... "I'm mainly helping the villagers sell it on a consignment basis, because the number of fans on my account is limited. Sales are not very good," he said.
Although there are still many difficulties at this stage, Zaan said that his ideal of building his hometown will not change.
(Photos in this version are provided by the respondents)
China Youth Daily, China Youth Daily reporter Wang Zhe Liu Shixin Source: China Youth Daily