Volunteer brings innovation to classes for isolated children. Zou Shuo reports from Beijing with Liu Kun in Wuhan.

Yuan Hui brings his unique methods to a class in Baiyangping township, Enshi Tujia and Miao autonomous prefecture, Hubei province, in March. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

Editor's note: To mark the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, China Daily is producing 10 profile stories to show the changes in the subjects' fields in the past decade. This is the sixth in the series.

Although he earns a meager salary, and sometimes nothing at all, Yuan Hui has no regrets about a decision he made 10 years ago to become a volunteer teacher in a remote mountainous region of Hubei province in Central China.

During the past decade, the 34-year-old has taught a variety of subjects, including Chinese history, geography and music, at several primary and middle schools.

After graduating from Nanjing University, one of China's top schools, in 2012, Yuan became a volunteer teacher at Jiangjiawan village in Hubei's Enshi Tujia and Miao autonomous prefecture. The job has allowed him to witness the progress the country has made in basic education over the past decade.

I have been very happy in the past 10 years. Living in the midst of the woods and lush greenery makes me feel at ease. People here are very nice and life is beautiful.

Yuan Hui, volunteer teacher in Jiangjiawan village, Enshi Tujia and Miao autonomous pre-fecture, Hubei province.

"When I first came to the village, local teachers could only make around 2,000 yuan ($280) a month, and most of them were in their 50s," he said, adding that most local teachers can now make more than 4,000 yuan per month and senior teachers can earn around 7,000 yuan.

The rise in salary has seen the arrival of more young teachers with bachelor's degrees or higher qualifications, he said.

Moreover, the conditions at local schools have improved considerably. Ten years ago, the teaching center in which Yuan worked had a leaky roof, but now primary and middle schools have much better teaching buildings, dormitories and canteens, and also playgrounds where students can do sports, he said.

According to the Ministry of Education, more than 70 percent of teachers at primary schools nationwide hold a bachelor's or higher degree, up from 32.6 percent in 2012.

Meanwhile, government expenditure on compulsory education has risen from 1.17 trillion yuan to 2.29 trillion yuan in the past decade, accounting for more than 50 percent of the total investment in education, it said.

Desire, dedication

After Yuan graduated from university, he was offered a job at a magazine in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu province, but he rejected it as he was determined to become a teacher.

He said he had wanted to be a teacher since high school. He remembers that when he was in high school all the teachers told the students to study hard, and he had to become an "exam machine" to get high grades in the gaokao, the national college entrance exam.

However, he wanted to become a different kind of educator and make his classroom fun and informative.

So, he decided that he did not want to be a full-time teacher as he thought that not having contracts with the schools would give him more freedom to try a new teaching style.

He also wanted to become a volunteer teacher in the rural areas where there was a lack of tutors. As a result, he traveled to two rural schools in Sichuan and Guizhou provinces, but both declined his offer, saying they had no shortage of teachers.

Then, he came across a news story about Tan Dingcai, a disabled teacher in Enshi. Tan had been a teacher at a learning center in Jiangjiawan since 1983. The center had 18 first and second grade students, and although he was paralyzed from the waist down after a fall in 2005, Tan continued to work as he was the only teacher at the place.

Yuan thought that the school might need a volunteer teacher, so he traveled more than 1,000 kilometers to Jiangjiawan. Tan initially had doubts about Yuan and tried to persuade him to return to Nanjing and find a full-time job, but when he saw how determined the young man was, he relented and helped him clean up a dormitory room, marking the start of a new chapter in Yuan's life.

Yuan Hui, volunteer teacher in Jiangjiawan village, Enshi Tujia and Miao autonomous pre-fecture, Hubei province. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

However, Yuan quickly discovered that being a volunteer teacher was not easy. "At the beginning, I had to go to different schools and plead with school administrators for classes to teach," he recalled. "I had to be thick-skinned, as many declined my offer."

As a volunteer teacher, Yuan does not receive a monthly salary, though he does get free accommodations and meals. Some schools have offered him allowances, but often he receives no money for his efforts.

Teaching also turned out to be much harder than he had thought as most of the students were "left-behind children", whose parents had moved to cities to find work.

"They were very shy and some were also very naughty. I thought I needed to play with them, so they would open up to me," Yuan said.

He made his classes unusual and interesting. For example, when teaching a poem about a swordsman, he brought a plastic sword to class and urged the students to give fencing performances while reciting the poem. The whole class then decided which student was the best swordsman.

He also teaches the students to write poems and lets them decide which is the best. He then writes the ode on the blackboard to praise the winning student.

In addition to teaching academic subjects, Yuan focuses on the all-around development of his students. He teaches them how to climb trees and swim, and organizes the school's soccer teams.

Yuan's unique teaching methods have gradually become popular in the county, even leading other schools to invite him to give lectures, for which he is paid. He has also won many teaching awards, which usually come with prize money.

Local education authorities have offered to make him a regular full-time teacher several times, promising a higher income and social insurance, but he has always declined the offers.

"I have food to eat, a place to live and something to do. I'm satisfied enough," he said. "It is worthwhile as I am doing something I like."

Not having much money did not affect him in terms of finding a girlfriend, Yuan said, adding that his girlfriend is very supportive of him continuing his teaching career.

Mutual respect

Although he has good relationships with his students, one in particular has left a unique mark on him.

When she was in the first grade, Tian Yanqing was diagnosed with osteogenesis imperfecta, aka "brittle bone disease", a rare genetic disorder that renders bones extremely fragile.

The 15-year-old enrolled at the county's best high school after gaining high scores in this year's entrance exam, thanks to a lot of help from Yuan during her primary education.

However, nine years ago, Yanqing had to drop out of primary school as it could not offer the extra care she required. Yuan hated to see the young student miss out, so he taught her at her home.

During Yanqing's six years of primary education, Yuan rode a motorcycle to her home two or three times a week to teach her. Two motorcycles were ruined as a result of the rough roads in the area.

Yanqing's grades were always among the top in her peer group, but Yuan never charged for the tuition and often brought books and food to the student's home.

In a letter Yanqing wrote to thank Yuan for his help, she said her life was gray before he came to her school, and he brought her warm sunshine.

Praising his young student, Yuan said: "She is also my teacher. She has overcome tremendous difficulties and insecurity, and I can always feel her inner strength, optimism and calmness."

Inspired by Yuan's story, several university students have come to the village to teach during the summer vacations since 2016.

When asked how long he plans to teach in the village, Yuan said he has not made a decision, adding that he values his freedom more than money. "Every day I get to read my favorite books and breathe clean air, and I can climb mountains every week," he said.

The students are also his friends, and he said he brings them different perspectives while they offer him happiness and companionship.

"Life without them would be dull," he said. "I have been very happy in the past 10 years. Living in the midst of the woods and lush greenery makes me feel at ease. People here are very nice and life is beautiful."

Contact the writers at zoushuo@chinadaily.com.cn