Children forced to learn in rundown building on cliff-face - PHOTO

A group of Chinese children are forced to study in a rotting shack at the top of a mountain cliff because surrounding towns claim they are all lepers.Leprosy died out in Xinzhai, southwest China, decades ago but its neighbours in Yunnan province refuse to believe it.Despite numerous campaigns to encourage schools to take the pupils, the village is still colloquially dubbed Mafengcun, meaning 'leprosy'.Outlawed from better-equipped schools, the village's 13 children, aged five to 15, climb a treacherous path every morning to get an education.The building is shabby, there are only four desks and with gaping holes in the roof, the children get wet when it rains.'In summer we bake, in winter we freeze, but we need an education so we must put up with it,' one boy told a local newspaper.To and from class, they have to climb a mountain path with just a rusting rail for support.Their teacher, Yuan Helun, 54, has been there 13 years teaching children the basics of reading, writing, maths and geography.Locals praise him for his selfless effort to make sure they get an education.'Learning conditions are difficult and the children are stigmatised for no good reason by the other villages, but they are good kids and they learn fast, even though we do not have much in the way of resources,' he said.'I cherish the time I spend with them and hope they find a decent life for themselves afterwards.'They really are dedicated. They have to slog up this mountain, sit in a cold and wet room for hours, go back down the mountain and them help their parents with the housework. 'They are from very poor families. The younger children make dolls from clay because their parents could never afford to buy them dolls from a toy shop.'Local media reported that some negotiations even ended in fistfights between those who want the children to move and the schools fighting to keep them out.'My 13 students in Mafengcun finally have the right to equal education,' said Yuan.(dailymail.co.uk)ANN.Az