Gao Wenhu, 28, is the headmaster and only teacher of the unnamed primary school in the little hillside village of Dazhai within the larger village of Quanba, in Yanhe Tujia Autonomous County of southwest China's Guizhou Province.

But only a year ago, he was one of the many migratory workers from his landlocked hometown that had gone to the coastal city of Shenzen, in South China's Guangdong Province, in search of work.

After learning that the Dazhai Primary School in the village had closed down three years earlier because it had no teachers, leaving more than 30 school-age children without classes, Gao decided to go back to his hometown where he volunteered to reopen the school .

With a population of less than 1,000, hillside Dazhai is a naturally-formed smaller village under the jurisdiction of Quanba Village.

The annual income per capita in Dazhai is less than 80 yuan (US$10) for the Tujia ethnic families who have lived there for centuries, making a living mainly by planting such crops as corn and sweet potatoes.

The impoverished village has been classed by the provincial government as one of the poorest of the many mountain villages in the county, which, as a result of the weak local economy and harsh living and working conditions, is in need of primary school teachers, according to the local education bureau.

Last summer, with the warm support of the village leaders and villagers themselves, Gao opened his school.

But the 10-square-metre primary school does not look like your usual school, as it is nothing more than a single poorly equipped classroom that used to be the living room of Gao's home.

The 32 students, aged from 7 to 12, are divided into grade one, two and three.

From Monday to Friday, Gao, who has finished junior high school, teaches his students three courses.

The courses are "Chinese language," "mathematics" and "public affairs and citizenship."

Gao's wife Tian Xiaofen, 26, used to be a nurse in a county clinic, but is now a full-time housewife, looking after their 2-year-old daughter Gao Shan.

She sometimes helps Gao teach the students.

Gao said he feels sorry for the children. He does not know much about music, drawing, and English, so such courses are missing from the curriculum.

English is expected to be taught from grade three on in formal primary schools in Guizhou, Gao said.

As for physical education, "the children just hang around after we finish classes, doing whatever they want," Gao said, pointing to the "playground," of the concrete roof of a neighboring house.

To buy text books for his students, Gao has to travel by bus at least 150 kilometers to the bookstore in the neighboring county of Dejiang.

To do that, he gets up very early in the morning and treks along the mountainous road for hours to catch a bus.

"After I get the books, I must come back quickly before it gets dark. Otherwise, I will have to spend more money," Gao said, explaining that the round-trip bus ticket costs him 30 yuan (US$3.60), and that a night's stay in Dejiang would cost much more than that amount.

To keep the school going, Gao collects a yearly tuition fee of about 40 yuan (US$5) from each students.

For a regular primary school in rural Guizhou, the tuition fee is normally at least 60 yuan (US$7.25) for every two semesters.

But still, some of Gao's students cannot afford it. Gao then uses his own money to subsidize these children.

After his expenditures for textbooks, exercise books, chalk and medicines for the students, not much money is left for Gao.

"I have never thought of making money out of these kids. I just think it's my responsibility to help them out as much as I can," said Gao, who gets some financial help from his elder brother Gao Wenxian, who is a migratory worker in Guangzhou.

Gao Wenhu is not the only one who has volunteered to teach at simple primary schools like this in the county.

Gao said that some other local youths who previously worked as migratory workers outside the mountainous county have also come back and set up small schools in other poor villages in the county, taking on the job of teaching the young children of their fellow villagers.

The county reportedly needs more than 1,000 primary school teachers but the local government can only afford to pay about 80 per cent of the usual salary of a primary school teacher to less than 200 teachers each year.

The usual monthly salary for a primary school teacher is from 600 to 700 yuan (US$70-80), according to Gao.

(China Daily June 25, 2004)