One student, six teachers: China’s rural school teaches its only second-grader

In one classroom at a remote Chinese primary school, a single seven-year-old girl sits at the second-grade desk. Six teachers take turns teaching her, ensuring that the school’s full curriculum continues as usual.

Lishan Primary School in Wugang, Hunan province, has 11 pupils this semester. The second grade has only one student, Ma Tianzhen, but she still attends lessons in Chinese, mathematics, music, physical education and art.

The teachers rotate through one-to-one classes with her. Videos showing Ma sitting alone in the classroom recently spread across Chinese social media under a hashtag about a Hunan primary school with only one second-grade student.

The school stands in the mountains at an altitude of 653 metres, about 25 kilometres from central Wugang. Founded in 1927, it is among the oldest schools in the area and is marking its 99th year.