Rural teacher in Jilin a model of service

Over the past 37 years, Zhuang Yuanjun has helped over 200 students walk out of remote mountainous areas.

That might seem like a small number for a teacher who has taught for over three decades, but it's significant. Zhuang has been working hard to make sure that children don't drop out of school.

Zhuang, 60, started to teach at the primary school in Luannitang village in Liudaogou township of Linjiang, Jilin province, after his graduation from senior high school in 1986.

From 1986 to 2006, he was the only teacher at the school. All the students in different grades had to have class in the same room, so he divided the blackboard into different parts for students in different grades and gave them lessons alternately.

In 2006, when the number of students in the township's rural schools saw a continuous drop, some schools were closed, including Zhuang's. His students were integrated into Liudaogou township central primary school.

Meanwhile, the school in Xiangyang village was reserved for students in the first and second grades, but there were no new teachers after a temporary teacher's retirement.