"I only get involved when they are in danger or want me to play with them," she said.

 

In 2013, Tongren launched a village kindergarten program. Instead of building new kindergartens, many unused primary and middle school classrooms and villagers' affairs committee offices were renovated to cater to the needs of children.

 

By the end of 2017, there were more than 1,600 village kindergartens in Tongren. Seven of the 10 districts and counties under its jurisdiction have been designated as poverty stricken areas.

 

Before the Yelang kindergarten was set up, there was only one kindergarten in Gaolouping township. Nearby residents had to ride motorbikes to take their kids to the crowded central kindergarten or spend up to 200 yuan ($31) a month for a chartered shuttle bus. If a child's parents left home for work in a bigger city, children often just stayed at home with their grandparents.

 

"The village-level kindergartens have provided an education for around 50,000 kids in rural areas of Tongren," said Zhang Chunhua, director of the Tongren's preschool education office.

 

More than 87 percent of children between 3 and 6 in rural areas of Tongren attend kindergarten now. In 2013, that figure was only 45 percent.