Making all the difference

"A fixed thinking pattern has limited the imagination of adults. Children, however, can give free rein to their ideas, which is the spirit of the 'maker' movement," Niu says.

He recalls that once he couldn't find a suitable part for a model airplane, but the next day the students cut a piece of a bus transit card, which made a perfect substitute.

"Students can hone their manual dexterity through science experiments, which can also arouse their interest in the subject," says Wang Ziping, a science teacher from the county's Chengguan No 2 Primary School.

He has joined WeChat groups of those who're interested in the fields like model airplanes and "maker "activities, some of whom are also primary school science teachers, to communicate with them and learn from them, so that he can get more inspiration for his classes.

A group of his students have designed a dustbin, made from a small carton, that automatically opens its lid to accept a piece of rubbish.

Wang Aiquan, headmaster of the county's Chengguan No 3 Primary School, says it's not easy to attract teaching talent to work at grassroots level school such as Tanchang county, a relatively less developed region.