http://www.edvantage.com.sg/edvantage/news/news/1307304/Poor_schools_in_China_tell_children_to_take_own_furniture.html
The contrast is stark. On one hand, there are the Chinese who keep rolling in money, with stories of their unimaginable wealth making the news every day.
On the other are the poorest of the poor who don't even have access to basic facilities.
In the impoverished area of Macheng, a city in China's north-eastern Hubei province, primary schools don't even have desks. Children have been carrying their own furniture to school, China Daily reported.
The Changjiang Times had reported that more than 3,000 primary school students in Shunhe, a township in the area, were forced to carry desks and chairs from their homes to their schools, with the help of their parents, due to shortage of supplies.
The paper also reported the story of Wang Ziyi, a five-year-old girl, who took a 24-year-old desk to school. Her grandfather told the newspaper that the desk had been used by the girl's father, uncles and aunts.
After the story emerged, education officials in the area were asked to dig into their own pockets to provide desks and chairs.
The officials managed to pledge enough money to buy 100 sets of desks and chairs, according to Ruan Jing, a publicity official for the city.
Ms Xiang Mingxiu, the only teacher in the Changchong Primary School in Shunhe, said that about a dozen sets of desks and chairs were delivered by local authorities to the school last Sunday.
Mr Zhong Fuhai, another teacher, said he never thought the power of the mass media could help equip his students with desks and chairs.
Thirteen desks and chairs were delivered to the school, which has 10 students.
Said Mr Zhong: "The kids are jubilant about the arrival of new desks and chairs, so are their parents."
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