Students learn the importance of education

From being unaware of the meaning of education to having its own undergraduate, post-graduate and doctoral students, the Derung ethnic group has made significant progress on the path to modernization.

The Derung, one of China's smallest ethnic groups, with a population of just 6,735 last year, was once isolated from the outside world deep in the mountains of Dulongjiang township, Yunnan province.

Before 1949, when the People's Republic of China was established, there was no school in the town. In 1956, the first primary school opened in Dulongjiang, and in 2006, a school for students from Grades 1 to 9 opened in the township.

Now, all local young people have access to education, with preferential policies offered for tuition fees, along with other subsidies.

Long Ruichao, 25, who comes from a poor family, is one of many who have benefited. When she was in Grade 5, Long was transferred to a school in Gongshan Derung and Nu autonomous county, which she said had better facilities than the school in the township.

As she came from an ethnic group, Long did not need to pay tuition fees. She also did not return home for Spring Festival, as the journey took 12 hours.

However, in 2014, a new tunnel shortened the travel time to three hours. Long then enjoyed free tuition while studying at Yunnan Agricultural University in Kunming, capital of Yunnan province. The Gongshan government also subsidized her expenses for accommodations.

In 2021, Long started post-graduate studies in ethnology at Yunnan University, focusing on Derung culture. The local government offered her an annual student loan of 16,000 yuan ($2,323).

"Education means walking out of the mountains and changing your life. More Derung families now attach greater importance to their children's education, which not only cultivates a significant amount of talent, but also changes people's perspectives of other issues," Long said.

Li Jinming, 57, the first Derung college student after the founding of New China in 1949 and a researcher at the Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences, shared similar experiences.

After taking the high school entrance exam, Li waited for two months, but failed to receive an acceptance letter from the High School Affiliated to Minzu University of China in Beijing.

The provincial education department received a phone call from the school asking why the student had not arrived, and Li later learned that the letter had not been delivered due to heavy snowfall blocking roads in the mountains.

He quit school for a year after contracting tuberculosis and appendicitis. The school paid for his medical expenses, because his family could not do so.

Authorities in Dulongjiang said three people from the Derung group have doctorates, two have master's and 29 have bachelor's degrees. The school enrollment rate for children from the group has reached 100 percent, and while dropout rate for compulsory education stands at zero.