CHANGSHA, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- At a rural school in Yongzhou City, central China's Hunan Province, Pan Xiaohong played the keyboard in her classroom as more than 40 children sang songs to begin their weekly "mind purifying class."

The students' grandparents were also in the classroom.

As the deputy head of Nanshi Primary School in Lanshan County, Pan designed a special class dubbed the "mind purifying class" as a means of moral education, not only for students but for their parents or grandparents.

Pan, 52, is also a deputy to the 13th Hunan Provincial People's Congress, as well as a rural teacher with 33 years of teaching experience, who always speaks for rural education and left-behind children.

"Teaching a child well can change a family," said Pan. "As a teacher, I hope that more left-behind children can have a positive attitude and the ability to constantly learn and improve so that they can grow up as a respectable person and adapt well to the society. This is my simple wish."

In 1988, Pan came to a village of the Yao ethnic group and worked there as a teacher for 15 years.

"In those days, there were few teachers in the school, so we should teach several subjects ourselves." Pan is a versatile teacher who taught math and English while introducing music to rural children.

Because of her outstanding achievements, she became a deputy to the Yongzhou People's Congress in 2000. From then on, she began to pay attention to left-behind children and children in difficulties.

In 2004, a female student in Pan's class could not continue her education as her family suffered difficulties.

"She eventually dropped out of school. I can teach her, but I cannot change her family," Pan said.

Pan made up her mind to do her best to help these children. She decided to systematically sort out the situation of left-behind children around her. This idea set her on the road of visiting students' homes.

During summer vacation, Pan visited over 38 villages in 15 townships in Lanshan County, deeply understood the situation of 65 orphans and children from poverty-stricken households, and wrote a 100,000-word survey and a report on the living conditions of rural orphans and poverty-stricken students.

Pan took more than 20 copies of the document and went all over the county to seek help.

"At that time, the report drew people's attention to rural orphans and extremely poor children, and also strengthened my determination to help left-behind children," she said. To Pan's delight, many of the children she visited were never forced to drop out of school with the help of caring people.

As a rural teacher, Pan actively explored solutions to the problems and difficulties in rural education.

She once put forward suggestions on solving the education problems of left-behind children, which was answered by the Hunan Provincial Department of Education. "Although the education of left-behind children has attracted some attention, the mental health problems of left-behind children and the issues arising from the absence of their parents have not been fundamentally solved," Pan said.

As a rural teacher, Pan has close contacts with left-behind children. She has been exploring how to care for left-behind children in schools and help them grow up healthy.

Pan started her "mind purifying class" in 2010, and without any templates or precedents, Pan arranged the curriculum completely according to her own educational experience, life experience, societal expectations for education and demand for talent.

She integrates patriotism and dedication, traditional culture, family virtues, social morality and living skills to help students establish proper values, develop good habits and cultivate independent ability through singing, recitation and practicing life skills.

"I hope that we can educate children to be self-disciplined and adapt to society. This requires moral influence and subtle educational influence," Pan said.

Nowadays, Pan's "mind purifying class" has entered the classrooms of many townships and county-level schools in Lanshan County.

In January 2021, during the Fourth Session of the 13th Hunan Provincial People's Congress, Pan put forward five suggestions, including "Suggestions on Strengthening Labor Education in Rural Schools and Providing Talent Support for Rural Revitalization," and made a speech on how to strengthen labor education in rural schools.

Pan has rich experience in labor classes in rural schools, but this idea came from an accidental conversation.

During a home visit in 2013, Pan randomly went to the home of a 10-year-old student, Xiao Qi (pseudonym). When she found that she could cook and do housework, Pan was surprised and asked her if she needed any help from the school.

"I don't need any help, but I do have a wish," Xiao Qi said. "Can you teach students how to cook at school? Many of them rent houses in the town. If their grandparents are absent, they may not be able to cook meals for themselves."

Xiao Qi's wish made Pan Xiaohong realize the importance of labor education in schools. She believes that mastering necessary life skills is the most basic need for left-behind children, and it is often the most easily overlooked.

Since 2013, Pan has started cooking classes in the school and mobilized students' parents to teach as well. Thanks to the cooking classes, students can cook some basic meals.

"Education is the starting point for pursuing a better life and must benefit more students fairly," Pan said. "I have always believed that education is not only to impart knowledge but also to help students cultivate good habits and morality, so as to be a person who plays a positive role in society." Enditem