Rural libraries open exciting chapter for children

When she heard about Dashan Xiaoai's volunteer teacher program in Guizhou, the then sophomore at the Shanghai Normal University applied and during her summer vacation in 2012, traveled to Ayi, a remote village in Qianxinan prefecture.

Although she knew of the gap between urban and rural education, Zhou was still surprised by the low literacy rate of most of the students in her classroom. Many had problems understanding and writing, and often failed in their exams, and when she left, many of them cried and asked her if she would come back the following year.

"I didn't say anything at the time, but I told myself this was the career I wanted to devote myself to," she says.

The one-month program had made her realize the importance of narrowing the rural education gap, and so, every vacation thereafter, Zhou returned to her students and also began to bring other volunteer teachers with her.