Building lives and dreams

Government support improves children’s education in villages of Guizhou province

Pan Xuefei, a girl of the Miao ethnic group, is enjoying middle school in Guiyang after graduating from a village elementary school. In recent years, Dadai Miao village — located in Congjiang county in Qiandongnan Miao and Dong autonomous prefecture of Southwest China’s Guizhou province — has greatly improved local children’s education.

New buildings and roads were built with the government’s support. The government has also prioritized girls’ education.

Since graduating in the fall of 2021, Pan, along with nine other children from the village, got the opportunity to study at a middle school in the city of Guiyang — benefiting from the government’s paired support project.

Pan said her dream is to be a village teacher in her hometown and impart knowledge to children in the mountainous area to help them pursue their dreams.

Pan (second from right) and her classmates complete holiday homework with help from their teacher in Dadai Miao village of Congjiang county, Guizhou province, on Feb 25, 2021.

Pan (second from left) returns home after school in Dadai Miao village of Congjiang county in Qiandongnan Miao and Dong autonomous prefecture, Guizhou province, on June 25, 2021.

Pan (left) herds cattle with a friend in Dadai Miao village of Congjiang county in Qiandongnan Miao and Dong autonomous prefecture, Guizhou province, on Aug 20, 2021.

Pan heads for the home of a classmate to do homework in Dadai Miao village of Qiandongnan Miao and Dong autonomous prefecture, Guizhou, on Feb 25, 2021.

Pan Xuefei arranges her new textbooks at Liduanfen Middle School in Guiyang, Guizhou province, on Feb 27.

Pan eats dinner with classmates at Dadai Elementary School in Dadai Miao village of Congjiang county, Guizhou province, on June 24, 2021.

Dadai Elementary School in Dadai Miao village of Qiandongnan Miao and Dong autonomous prefecture, Guizhou province, on Feb 25, 2021.

Dadai Elementary School before renovation in Qiandongnan Miao and Dong autonomous prefecture, Guizhou province, on Dec 1, 2017.

Liduanfen Middle School in Guiyang, Guizhou province, on Feb 27.