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on september 17, a netizen posted a message saying that dongshan primary school in hengyang county, hunan province has not recruited a single student since the start of the school year and was forced to close.

on the 19th, jiupai news contacted wang yuanbing, the principal of dongshan primary school. he said that the online rumors were not entirely true, the school was not closed, and teachers and students were still attending classes as normal. currently, there was one person in the first grade and the sixth grade, and there were several students in other grades. the school was working hard to visit and recruit students.

dongshan primary school in hengyang county, hunan province. photo/video screenshot

"the parent of a first-grade student is still hesitant. he wants to send his child to a school with more students, but our school is closest to his home and most convenient. we are actively communicating with the village committee to retain him. it is normal that there is a shortage of primary school students in rural areas now. many parents bring their children to buy houses and settle down in towns. naturally, there are fewer students in rural schools. many schools may have only one or two students in a grade. as long as there is one student in our school, the teacher will teach seriously, and the school will continue to operate and will not close." wang yuanbing said.

wang yuanbing said that although the school has made great efforts to recruit students and provide good education, parents tend to send their children to cities for study due to urbanization and the desire to improve their living environment. the school has tried to attract students to return through home visits and other means, but the results are limited.

"dongshan village has a registered population of more than 2,400 people, but many of them go out to work or do business. it is normal that there are no students in the primary school. it is actually very difficult for us to stick to rural education. sometimes one teacher is responsible for all courses in a class. although there are not many people, we are very busy every day." wang yuanbing said.

[source: jiupai news]