BACK TO THE BOOKS: Students study at Hua Guang Girl's High School, an all-girl private school that has shepherded thousands of dropouts back into education

Eleven-year-old grade five student Huang Ming was eating dinner with two of his classmates, squatting on the ground. The meal was rice, tofu and soup with a few meat crumbs as decoration. The students ate their meal so attentively they didn't even notice several strangers approaching.

When they finally looked up from the food Huang greeted the strangers, who were in fact a group of visiting reporters, with the words, "The meal is so good today," before chewing down a piece of tofu.

Huang is a student in the primary school of Dujie Township in Long'an County, which is a poor county in the southwest of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. About 90 percent of the township, the population of which is dominated by minority ethnic groups, is unfit for arable farming.

Boarding school

Providing education in the area has been a difficult task because of the scattered nature of the population. In an attempt to solve the problem, the local government has chosen to bring grade five and six students from around the county together under a boarding system. By doing so it hopes to make better use of limited resources, ensure the children attend school and raise the level of teaching.

However, due to limited space the school in town can only accommodate students from five villages, leaving out another dozen, according to Wei Chengzhi, Deputy Principal of the Dujie Township Primary School.

AWAY FROM HOME: Grade five and six students from around the township eat lunch outside Dujie Township Primary School, a boarding school aimed at raising the local education level

Thanks to poverty-relief action in the region, the Dujie school built a four-story student dorm building in 2007 with space for 450 students, enabling more pupils, including Huang Ming, to receive better education in town.

Each room is packed with eight beds, a little crowded but at least clean. Ragged quilts and sheets cover the mattresses.

Huang only goes home once every two weeks to save on traveling costs. He said he learned how to do his own laundry when he was younger and was engaged in all kinds of farm work. Now his biggest wish is that his family can occasionally come to the school to visit him.

Despite the additional space, the school remains too small for all those who want to attend. It can hold 16 classes with 720 grade five students, while the 230 grade six students have to borrow classrooms in the middle school of the town.

"With the help of the local government and the World Bank, we are now constructing a new office building, which will provide eight rooms for the grade six students next year," said Wei.

He has seen great advances in local education in recent years under the supervision of the government.

Wei said students at his school are exempted from paying tuition and book fees, which are usually around 28 yuan ($4) every semester, but have to pay boarding fees of 500 yuan ($72) each semester.