Source :CGTN | Editor :Laili
Svyvnaale Orozaale is a boarding school student in Ulugqat County in Xinjiang’s Kizilsu Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture. Every Friday, he goes home to spend the weekend with his parents.
Ninety per cent of Kizilsu Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture is mountainous. After two hours’ drive on mountain roads, we finally arrive at Svyvnaale’s home, and his mother is busy preparing his favorite dishes.
Both of Svyvnaale’s parents are herdsmen, so one of the things he has to do during weekends and holidays is to help his parents pasture sheep.
HUANG YUE Ulugqat County, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region “Ulugqat County has only two middle schools, both are located in the center of the county. For students like Svyvnaale who live in the mountains, that’s hours away, even by car from home. Born and raised here, pasturing sheep and cattle is an important part of daily life, as they’ve witnessed their parents and grandparents doing so since they were little. But going to school, despite the distance, gives these young people hope beyond herding.”
Due to the long distance from home to school and their busy herding life, Svyvnaale’s parents decided to send him to boarding school three years ago.
Mayra Tilek, Svyvnaale’s mother said “Whenever we talk about his school, he tells me that everything is great – dormitory, teachers and classmates. He says there’s a huge playground in school where he can play soccer. I used to think he’s a lazy boy, but now he can wash his own clothes.”
Svyvnaale’s parents say they don’t want their children to be herdsmen in the future.
Orozaale Aamat, Svyvnaale’s father, said, “I hope he can study hard and excel himself. If he can be a teacher in the future and teach children like himself that will be really great.”
Svyvnaale’s mother said “The life my son has now is far better than mine. I had a hard childhood. My parents have five daughters and I’m the youngest. I dropped out of middle school after my parents passed away. My husband and I both stopped going to school early, so we just hope our sons can have a good education and a bright future.”
Svyvnaale is in ninth grade and will take part in high school enrollment exams in June next year. And the Kirgiz young man has already set a goal for himself.
Svyvnaale said “I want to go to high school in Chongqing. My sister goes to university there, and she often sends pictures to my parents. It’s such a beautiful city, and my sister says food there is also delicious. I want to have a look and have a taste for myself. I’ve never been out of the mountains in my life. I want to see the outside world.”
Earlier in September, China issued a white paper refuting claims that boarding schools in Xinjiang were built for separating ethnic minority children from their parents. It says the schools can help consolidate universal access to compulsory education and promote balanced education.
The white paper also explained that covering an area of more than 1.6 million square kilometers, Xinjiang is a vast region with long distances between villages and towns, and it’s difficult for some students to commute between home and school every day. Therefore, establishing boarding schools is a practice to help solve the problem, and it is up to students’ families to decide whether to let their kids stay there or not. Huang Yue, CGTN, Ulugqat County, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.