School band helps rural students become more confident in life

Wen Jin guides students in practicing musical instruments at Miaoxi Primary School in Hengyang, Hunan Province. [Zou Shuo/China Daily]

During a recent journey from Hengyang City, Hunan Province, to a village primary school in Hengyang County, Wen Jin persevered despite the engine in his more than 10-year-old car quitting several times as he drove it along a zigzagging mountainous road.

Heavy rainfall added to the difficulty of the trip. Nevertheless, Wen was determined to reach his destination.

Every Tuesday, he travels to Miaoxi Primary School to teach students music and help them practice for the school band, which he started in September to offer the students an even richer experience. The school only has 32 students, and eight of them have joined the band.

Most of the students are left-behind children whose parents have migrated to larger areas to find jobs and have left their kids in the care of their grandparents or other relatives.

Wen has been volunteering as a music teacher at Miaoxi since 2022, and as long as the road is accessible, he travels to the school every Tuesday to teach two classes.

"Many people have asked me why I have persisted or how long I plan to keep coming to the school, but I do not think it has much to do with persistence," Wen said. "The students need me, and I need them. It's natural. I have gained a sense of achievement from them."

Teaching the students has been relaxing for him, and students are enjoying a more authentic musical experience, Wen said. They are genuinely interested in music, and because he's not being paid for his work, he can conduct his lessons more freely, he said.

The idea of offering students music lessons came from Ning Dan, who has been principal at Miaoxi for six years.

The school has seven teachers, most of whom are in their 20s and 30s. They gained employment at the school by participating in a government-led teaching hiring program while studying at university.

By joining the program, the teachers' university tuition is covered, and they receive subsidies to teach at rural schools. After they finish teaching for a fixed term, they can apply to work at schools in urban areas.

The arrival of young teachers has broadened the students' horizons, as the teachers hail from various areas of China, but none of them could teach enrichment. So Ning decided to hire volunteer teachers in 2022 for such classes.

Besides Wen, Miaoxi also has volunteer art and reading teachers.

Wen Jin teaches a student in drumming rhythm in May. [Chen Zeguo/Xinhua]

Beyond Academics

According to the Ministry of Education, the program, which was launched in 2006, has led to the hiring of more than 1 million university graduates to teach at rural schools in central and western provincial-level regions. Through it, another 37,000 university graduates are expected to be hired to teach in the regions this year.

The central government has invested 71 billion yuan ($11 billion) in the program, and more than 95 percent of the teachers work at schools in townships or villages, the ministry said.

The ministry said the program will focus on hiring more physical education, music, art and IT teachers for rural schools, as teachers of these subjects are sorely lacking.

Ning said students in mountainous regions have little contact with the outside world, and some of them have never left their hometowns.

They are also very introverted; they lack parental love, and their grandparents are often not very talkative, so many of the students also do not like or know how to talk with others, he said.

There is a great imbalance in terms of educational resources and horizons between the rural students and their urban counterparts, Ning added, so the volunteer teachers from other regions can expand the children's perspectives and give them a better sense of the outside world. In turn, they will become less timid and have more confidence.

The principal, who was also born in a village in Hengyang, said he does not want rural children to just focus on academics as he was forced to more than 20 years ago.

"Schools and parents should pay more attention to building their character and make them more confident and outgoing," he said.

The students participate in a variety of activities at school, which has led them to develop various hobbies instead of just playing on their smartphones in their spare time.

Besides the volunteer music, art and reading classes, they also play basketball on a 10-member team formed by Ning, who trains them every day. The school's PE classes are also helping the students become more tenacious, the principal said.

Lead vocalist Cheng Jiaolong cheers during a performance for visitors in May. [Chen Zeguo/Xinhua]

A Long Love Affair

Wen said he has loved music since childhood.

"Born in a village in Anxiang county, Hunan Province, being able to listen to music on the radio is my happiest childhood memory. As my parents were not around, only music could help me express my feelings, whether I was happy or not."

Wen said he used to be shy when he was a child and avoided speaking to people. It was only after he started getting into music and instruments at a vocational school that he became more confident and understood that he could gain recognition without having to misbehave, as some of his classmates did.

He said he mostly learned to play instruments on his own. After graduating from the vocational school and spending a year working on an assembly line in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, he was good enough to form a band with friends in Zhuhai, also in Guangdong.

Back then, they practiced for more than 10 hours a day. After entering a local contest and winning third place, people started to invite them to perform, and Wen was soon able to make a living from playing gigs. He also began teaching local students music how to play instruments.

In May 2017, he decided to return to Hengyang to better take care of his children and start a musical instrument shop city. Once he learned about Miaoxi's need for a music teacher, he jumped at the chance to volunteer.

"I grew up in a rural area, so it was hard for me to see any musical instruments. So every time I saw a keyboard or a pipe organ, I felt honored to even touch it, so I understand what music and a band means to other students from a similar background," he said.

"I hope music can bring them happiness and cure them, as they are very lonely. After they learn that they can express themselves through music, they can receive more respect and attention."

The Miaoxi school band initially got off to a rocky start.

Ning said in the beginning when it was first established, many students just watched Wen, not knowing what to do. Also, their guardians did not like the idea of a band and wanted the school to focus more on academics, he said.

The band persevered, and Wen said the students have improved greatly. It used to take them two or three months to learn how to play a song, but now they only need about two weeks, he said.

Their guardians became more supportive of the band's efforts once they realized the students' grades were not worsening, and that they were starting to be invited to perform at different places.

The band has become a major source of recreation for the students. They practice every day, even when Wen is not there to guide them.

On International Children's Day, which fell on June 1, the band performed in front of several hundred people at a competition in the county.

Ning said the performance has been the band's best to date, and all the students seemed very relaxed on stage as they played.

The band and Miaoxi's enrichment courses have instilled a growing confidence in the students that has been exhibited in other aspects, the principal said.

For example, when the school held a speaking contest in 2022, some of the students were so nervous that they cried when it was their turn. In contrast, during a similar competition held recently, the 22 students who participated all spoke confidently and fluently.

Bassist Li Jiaqi sings during the performance in May. [Chen Zeguo/Xinhua]

Fans of the Band

Wu Jiaxin, an 11-year-old fifth grader, plays drums for the band. Her mother works in Guangzhou, Guangdong, and her father works in Changsha, Hunan.

Jiaxin lives with her grandparents and two of her younger cousins. She used to get angry often — particularly with her cousins as they frequently used to take her belongings without permission — and her grades at school were affected by her mood.

Since joining the band, though, she said she has become happier and that listening to music makes her feel more relaxed. She also often watches videos online to help her improve her drumming skills.

"Music has become my favorite hobby, and I like Mr. Wen and his lessons a lot," she said.

Jiaxin said she especially loves being part of the band.

"Being on stage makes me happy," she said. "Plus, I have made friends with others in the band, and now I want to become a music teacher."

Liu Guanyu, 11, and his cousin Wu Jiayi, 10, are both in the band. Like Jiaxin, Guanyu plays the drums, while Jiayi plays the keyboard.

Both of their parents work in cities, and they live with their grandparents.

Guanyu said he does not blame his parents for leaving him behind, as he knows they did so to support the family. He said he has enjoyed music since he was a small child, and he likes playing the drums because of their strong rhythm. His parents support his musical endeavors, as they want him to be happy and more outgoing, he added.

Besides the keyboard, Jiayi has also learned to play the drums, guitar and bass in the band. She has also taught herself ukulele by watching videos.

"Nowadays, I do not feel nervous at all when playing on stage, and I have practiced both with the band and by myself to improve my skills," she said.

(Source: China Daily)

Editor: Wang Shasha