ON THE ROAD: Students from remote Aksu Prefecture arrive at Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, on August 23, 2012, before heading to high schools in east China (ZHAO GE)

Li felt very homesick when he first arrived in Urumqi. "Everything is so different here—the weather, the food and we need to deal with everything by ourselves," said Li, who got through those days with the help of teachers and classmates. "The interesting in-class and extracurricular activities helped a lot."

Li's dream is to become a policeman and he said he hopes to go to Shanghai for further studies. "After I graduate from university, I would come back to Xinjiang and make contributions to my hometown."

Guliweina, a 13-year-old girl from Turpan, is a classmate of Li. She set up this school as the goal when she was in the sixth grade in the primary school in Turpan. Her elder sister is a graduate here and went to Beijing for senior high school. Now her sister is a student at the Communication University of China, located in the nation's capital. "I admire my sister a lot and Beijing is my ideal place too," said Guliweina.

A bigger picture

"In Urumqi alone, there are already four schools offering preparatory classes for students to attend high school in east China, with 10,000 students graduating each year," said Meng Lang, Principal of No.66 Middle School.

Meng revealed that in order to bring more children from rural and pastoral households into better schools, Xinjiang has opened junior middle school classes in eight cities including Urumqi, Shihezi, Karamay, Kuytun, Changji, Hami, Korla and Aksu.

Instruction is mainly in Mandarin and English. "Teachers here are dedicated, not only to teaching, but also to the breakdown of ethnic barriers," said Meng. "Multilingual education is necessary. If they can write and speak in their own ethnic languages and Mandarin and English, that will help them better integrate with the outside world."

Wuziguli, an eighth grader at No.66 Middle School, started bargaining in Mandarin to get a higher price for the grapes in her father's field in 2012.

"My family earned more than other families in my village because I can speak Mandarin fluently," the little girl said with a smile.

"Children are the future," said Meng. "If we want to reduce poverty in Xinjiang, we need to develop education. Education empowers people's minds and that's more important than anything else."

"We are on our way to improving education for ethnic minorities, which is crucial for regional economic development," said Tursun Ibrayim, head of the Education Department of Xinjiang.

Tursun said that the policy of sending Xinjiang's high school students to study in eastern cities is welcomed by parents and children in the region. "Improving the quality of education among ethnic minorities is important to Xinjiang's social and economic development," said Tursun.

According to Tursun, raising the educational level of the Xinjiang population is no easy task for this underdeveloped northwest region, which accounts for nearly a sixth of the nation's territory and has a population of over 21.3 million.

He noted that since 2003, more than 60 billion yuan ($9.77 billion) has been invested in education in Xinjiang. In 2013, the autonomous region will allocate another 2.6 billion yuan ($424 million) in compulsory education.

"Education for all is the wish of every parent, child, educator and government official in Xinjiang," he said.

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