Schooling Hope

Nineteen years ago, Kuerban Niyaz, a Uygur local, built a primary school for the instruction of standard spoken and written Chinese in Wushi County, Aksu Prefecture. It’s the first institute of its kind in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Today, the school has nurtured numerous students who have gone on to explore bigger and better opportunities—some stayed in their hometown to contribute to local development, whereas others left the area in pursuit of further studies across China and the world.

China is a multiethnic country and Xinjiang is home to almost all of the nation’s 56 ethnic groups. More than 10 spoken and written languages