When Free Education isn’t Free


  • Photographer
    Frances Tong
  • Prize
    Honorable Mention
  • Company/Studios
    Magnificat Photography
  • Date of Photograph
    May 2010
  • Technical Info
    Film

Enveloped among folding mountains and turbulent rivers, Guizhou province is the poorest province in China. Despite all children are offered free primary education, studying is a luxury to some of the mountain kids. Given the remoteness, the lack of proper roads and inadequate infrastructure, going to school can be an expedition for the persistent. Kids trek for hours, climb over steep slopes and cross deep gorges before they reach their school huts. Boarding school huts made of chopped woods serve multiple functions sheltering the classrooms and dormitories. While bunk beds become both studying desks and sleeping mats, wooden stools become writing tops. Away from parental attention and support, one’s learning falls on the individual’s shoulder. For the fortunate ones where schools are assessable, mothering the younger ones inevitably goes hand-in-hand with studying. When free education isn’t really free, going to school becomes an admirable aspiration.

Story

Enveloped among folding mountains and turbulent rivers, Guizhou province is the poorest province in China. Despite all children are offered free primary education, studying is a luxury to some of the mountain kids. Given the remoteness, the lack of proper roads and inadequate infrastructure, going to school can be an expedition for the persistent. Kids trek for hours, climb over steep slopes and cross deep gorges before they reach their school huts. Boarding school huts made of chopped woods serve multiple functions sheltering the classrooms and dormitories. While bunk beds become both studying desks and sleeping mats, wooden stools become writing tops. Away from parental attention and support, one’s learning falls on the individual’s shoulder. For the fortunate ones where schools are assessable, mothering the younger ones inevitably goes hand-in-hand with studying. When free education isn’t really free, going to school becomes an admirable aspiration.

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