The Huaping High School for Girls in Lijiang, southwest China's Yunnan province, is the country’s first free high school dedicated to giving an education to girls from impoverished families, and was established in 2009.

So far, 1,645 female students have graduated from the school and gone on to receive a higher education. This achievement can be attributed to school principal Zhang Guimei, who has been advocating education for girls for years.

In 1996, Zhang was transferred from Dali city to Huaping county and worked there as a teacher, and found that girls dropped out at a far higher rate than boys.

Zhang was determined to make a change. “I had to stop female students from dropping out of school because of poverty. I worked hard to get them back to school,” Zhang said.

In 2002, Zhang began raising funds across the country in order to open a high school for girls in Huaping county. However, between 2002 and 2007, she only collected about 10,000 yuan, which was far from enough.

In 2007, when the media began covering Zhang’s efforts, she began to receive nationwide attention, and Lijiang city and Huaping city each donated one million yuan to help her set up the school.

In September 2008, the Huaping Girls High School opened, enrolling nearly 100 students from nearby counties and hiring 16 teachers.

However, as the enrollment threshold was very low, students in the school had poor academic foundations. To help them pursue higher education, Zhang mobilized the teachers to work hard to guide and manage the students so that they could complete their studies.

Half a year later, nine teachers resigned due to the stressful nature of the work. To keep the school running, Zhang and other teachers started to work on a tighter schedule. Zhang would get up at about 5 a.m. and would often be busy until after midnight. Overwork all year round resulted in Zhang and the other teachers becoming seriously ill.

“The education of girls can change the fates of three generations. When my students become productive people in society, I think all my work will have been worthwhile," she explained.