YINCHUAN, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- Late at night, Yang Liu was still checking students' homework in his dorm. During the busiest days, he has to prepare 24 lessons a week. Although his home is less than an hour's drive, he hasn't been there for weeks.

"I have taught math, music and many other subjects throughout the years, and teachers in rural schools almost always have to teach that many subjects," said Yang, 30.

Yang works in Gongyi primary school, more than 50 km away from the county seat of Xiji in Guyuan City, northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. It is the last remaining impoverished county in Ningxia.

Education has been an effective way to shake off poverty for generations in China, but the shortage of teachers has always been a stumbling block. To mitigate the dearth of rural teachers and promote a balanced allocation of education resources between rural and urban areas, China launched the Special Teaching Post Project (STPP) in 2006.

Under this project, college graduates are recruited to teach in rural primary and middle schools in the countryside.

According to the Ministry of Education, 950,000 college graduates were recruited to teach in more than 30,000 rural schools across the country in the past 15 years. Their average age is 25, and more than 80 percent have bachelor's degrees.

Xiji currently has 1,957 STPP teachers, accounting for 38 percent of the total teachers in the county.

"The project has not only addressed the problem of teacher shortage but also helped increase the number of teachers for subjects such as music, physical education and art," said Guo Huaibao, an official with the local education and sports bureau.

Yang Liu majored in music at Ningxia Normal University, and in 2017, he became the first professional music teacher in Gongyi primary school's history, thanks to the STPP project.

Under Yang's guidance, the school choir won first place in a county-level competition last year, with judges saying that it was "a real choir" rather than just a group of kids singing together.

"It really touched my heart when these kids gathered around me, jumping and screaming with joy," he said. "Recognition means a lot for rural children, and I'm happy it comes from music."

Ma Xuefen, 25, was among the rural students taught by the first batch of STPP teachers, and after graduation, he joined the project as well.

"I felt so lucky when the STPP teachers taught us about the outside world," said Ma recalling his childhood days. "They not only imparted knowledge but also broadened our horizon."

Ma now teaches Chinese in Ganchenzi central school in Shaogang Township of Ningxia's Qingtongxia City. To help improve students' reading and speaking abilities, she makes one student tell a story in front of the rest before every class.

"That's exactly what rural children need," Ma said. This spring term, her class ranked the first among the city's rural schools in terms of the average scores in the Chinese subject.

Governments at various levels adopted a raft of measures to help improve the living conditions of the STPP teachers.

In Xiji, for instance, the local government has built 771 dormitories since 2012. The apartments are equipped with proper facilities such as electricity, heaters and the internet. The STPP teachers are also offered "nutritious meals" at subsidized rates.

"We hold dating sessions for young single teachers, and have helped several teachers find partners," Guo Huaibao said.

Official figures showed that 85 percent of the STPP teachers stay in their posts after completing a mandatory three-year service.

As a rural music teacher, Yang Liu has rejected many offers from downtown schools in the past six months.

"It's convenient to live and eat at the current school. Downtown schools may provide me with a bigger platform, but rural students need me more," he said.

Ma Xuefen, who earns more than 3,000 yuan (about 447 U.S. dollars) a month, is also ready to stay in her school in the future.

"The children here are adorable. When the apples are ripe, they would give me the biggest and reddest ones," she said.

"The project aims to promote rural education, and I had fully prepared myself for all the hardships before coming here," Ma said. "I can realize my self-worth by sending more rural children to high schools and colleges." Enditem