Su Moying, of Sheke Village, Sheke Township, Lanxian County, Shanxi Province, has been teaching in the countryside for 20 of her 48 years. She is more than just a teacher and headmistress to her six students. They also see her as a parent.
Beicuishan, a small village, is in the mountainous region 15 kilometers from the seat of Sheke Township. Its single primary school consists of one room in which classes are held, meals cooked and eaten, and the teacher sleeps. Spartan conditions like these do not attract teachers. Consequently, in 1996, Su took the initiative to work here, and during the following years, developed her daily routine of getting up before daybreak, travelling seven kilometers by bicycle to the foot of the mountain, and climbing seven kilometers up to the classroom. The onerous task of teaching 12 courses to three grades of a dozen students gave her no time to rest. On returning home each night, she corrected papers and prepared the following day's lessons.
On being asked about her motivation for taking on such demanding work, Su says frankly, "I grew up in the countryside, and so have a full understanding of the difficulties rural children face. If no one goes there to teach them, they simply get no education. This is why I decided to teach here."
Her full work schedule means that Su has time neither to instruct her own children, nor do farm work. In order to serve the needs of her students more fully, Su began to live at the school, devoting herself entirely, year by year, to their education.
Owing to a shortage of funds, in spring of this year the Beicui children were forced to stop their studies. In the past, Su often helped students at her own expense, but on this occasion she had not been paid herself for half a year. She had no choice but to go home. She was, however, so loath to part from her students, that with the children's parents' agreement, she brought six students home with her, and gave them lessons in a classroom borrowed from the Sheke Township Central Primary School.
Su Moying inevitably finds teaching in the countryside a hardship. She nevertheless convinced her son, an English major, and his girlfriend, to teach at another village school. She says, "As long as our country benefits, it is a worthwhile task."
(China Today April 21, 2003)
