Feature: School with only three students

Kong Wenqing is a teacher, chef, and concierge.

Kong, 59, is the only faculty member in the Huashan Village School in the mountainous area of Henan Province in central China. He has three students, two are just five years old.

Kong Wenqing and students play a game during a break in Huashan Village, Yiyang County, central China's Henan Province, on Feb. 28, 2019.(Xinhua/Li Jianan)

To get to the School from the nearest township center, it took nearly 40 minutes by car to cover a 16-km steep and rocky road with over 100 sharp turns.

About 40 years ago, Kong took the road to study in a School far away. He worked as an accountant after graduating from senior high for 10 years until he took the same road back to teach at the School.

Kong teaches Chinese, math and morality lessons to the sixth grader and Chinese pinyin and reading to the two five-year-olds.

Kong Wenqing prepares lunch for students in Huashan Village, Yiyang County, central China's Henan Province, on Feb. 28, 2019.(Xinhua/Li Jianan)

During the breaks, he adds coal to the furnace to keep warm, while after the last class in the morning, he prepares lunch for the students. "I cook rice and noodles, trying to ensure they eat well," he said.

students have lunch by a table tennis table in Huashan Village, Yiyang County, central China's Henan Province, Feb. 28, 2019.(Xinhua/Li Jianan)

Over the years, the learning environment in the School has been greatly improved, from thatched houses to tile-roofed houses, and then to the two-floor building.

Kong applied to the township government for funds to build a canteen for students in 2008, when there were over a dozen teachers and 100 students.

However, after the canteen was built, the number of students has been continuously shrinking, something he had not anticipated.

Huashan is a village struck with poverty, with 100 out of more than 240 households living in poverty. Leaving the village to work as migrant laborers in towns and cities has remained the only option for most families for many years.

Kong Wenqing tutors students in Huashan Village, Yiyang County, central China's Henan Province, on Feb. 28, 2019.(Xinhua/Li Jianan)

Once the conditions permit, migrant workers would take their children with them to cities. In recent years, students have been grouped together to attend Schools in towns or cities.

Kong was glad to see the children leaving the village to receive a better education.

"I'm not good at Mandarin, my teaching method is outdated and I can't teach English," he said, adding that he often turns to online lessons so his students can learn more.

Kong said his biggest hope was more and more students could go to college.

His efforts paid off. In the past decade, a total of 25 students he taught had been enrolled in universities.

"Last year alone, eight went to college," Kong said. "That makes me very happy."

China has made efforts to improve educational facilities in rural areas.

Kong Wenqing gives a lesson in Huashan Village, Yiyang County, central China's Henan Province, on Feb. 28, 2019.(Xinhua/Li Jianan)

The government stepped up the development of small rural Schools and boarding Schools in towns and townships last year, said the government work report delivered by Premier Li Keqiang on Tuesday.

Efforts will be further made to drastically reduce the rural student dropout rates in poor areas and continue to increase the quotas at key universities for students from rural and poor regions, Li said in the report at the opening of the annual legislative session.

According to Kong, there were five teachers working in the School before him until their retirement.

Although Kong is turning 60 soon, he has not planned to retire.

"As long as there is at least one child learning in the School, I will apply to continue to teach. It is my duty," he said.