NANNING, March 11 (Xinhua)-- While numerous volunteers in China are working in grassroots communities amid the epidemic, students and teachers have also responded by offering online tutoring for the children whose parents are on the frontline fighting COVID-19.

Li Dan, a student at Nanning Normal University in south China's Guangxi, checked his smartphone every now and then in case the student he tutored asked questions online.

Li teamed up with three other schoolmates to give online courses to Liang Qijian, who is preparing for the national college entrance examination at home. Liang's mother was sent to treat patients in central China's Hubei Province, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak.

"We are very close now, and Liang is willing to share any problems with us," said Li Dan, who often chatted with Liang through Wechat to relieve the boy's stress for the examination.

Nie Can, president of the volunteers association at Nanning Normal University, joined Li Dan's teaching group and shared volunteer activities with other students on campus.

"After I signed up, many students followed us. The number of applicants for the tutoring program is still increasing," said Nie.

So far, 59 volunteers at Nanning Normal University have provided online tutoring to 45 children, ranging from kindergartens to high schools.

Teachers in the country have also acted quickly for the children in need amid the epidemic.

In Changsha, central China's Hunan province, over 1,200 primary and middle school teachers volunteered to take care of 700 children of local medical staff.

In eastern China's Zhejiang province, a group of teachers organized by the local women's federation became "temporary mothers" of the children to give them online lessons.

"It is our job to take care of these children during this special time. We are the homefront for the parents and the kids," said Li Guanghua, a primary school teacher in Changsha.