Wei Guoji plays basketball with students at Tuogua Primary School at Tuogua Village in Zuodeng Yao Ethnic Township of Tiandong County, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Sept. 3, 2019. Located in remote mountains of Tiandong county, Tuogua primary school is over 60 km away from the county seat, to which only a rugged mountain road can lead. The 53-year-old Wei Guoji, a native to the village, is the principal of the village school. Wei was recruited as a substitute teacher of the school after graduation from junior high school at the age of 18 in 1984, and became a formal teacher in the next year. For the past 35 years, he has devoted himself to his work at the school, seeing batches of students graduating from here. In recent years, with the carrying out of the work on poverty reduction by relocating impoverished people who live in harsh environments, many children have moved out of mountainous areas with their parents and started to study at schools near the county seat. The number of this primary school's students thus has decreased from 200 at the highest to 28 now. To optimize education resources, local authorities plan to merge Tuogua primary school into a central primary school in township. "Teachers here are so happy to see our kids receive better education." said Wei. (Xinhua/Cao Yiming)
