By Ma Miaomiao

In a classroom of the Lu Xun Primary School in Awat County， Aksu Prefecture in south Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region， a variety of 3D-printed works take shape as students are crafting their models on computers on April 20.

“We are learning how to design a tripod， an ancient cooking vessel with two loop handles and three or four legs. This is much more complicated than the cups that I made before，” Umut Mahmut told Beijing Review. Students in this class are all fourth and fifth graders who have acquired basic computer skills. Umut， a fifth grader， said he is quite interested in 3D printing. “Its amazing that I can try and turn my imagination into reality，” he added.

The school is built with the assistance of Shaoxing， a city in Zhejiang Province. Since its establishment in February 2016， 16 teachers from Zhejiang have worked there. Che Feng， one of them， said interest-oriented classes such as the 3D printing one are already a common sight at primary schools in Zhejiang， but to students in Awat， they still come with a sense of novelty and exciting allure.

China started the pairing assistance program in Xinjiang back in 1997， when cadres and professionals from developed regions were dispatched to work and hold tenures there. The latest round of the program， launched in 2010， has involved ministries， plus 19 economically advanced provinces and municipalities， to help all of Xinjiangs 14 prefectures and cities. Education is paramount within the program.

Pooling support

Students at Zhejiang-funded Huzhou Primary School in Kalpin County located in the Tarim Basin， the westernmost area of Aksu， can also experience the fun of 3D printing.

“Penholders， cups and pagoda models， we designed and printed all of these by ourselves with the help of teachers，” Liu Jiaxin， a fifth grader， said. Many students in her school wanted to join the study， she added.

Chen Bin， a teacher from Huzhou in Zhejiang， brought the course of 3D printing to the school in September 2018. He told Xinhua News Agency that he wanted to help students in this remote county access such new technologies and cultivate their scientific literacy in practice.

In addition to the offline courses， the students can also log in to a community and exchange their experiences and creative ideas with 3D printing enthusiasts from all over the country.

Zhejiang has been dispatching large numbers of teachers to various counties and cities in Aksu. They have introduced more learning platforms for local students and helped improve local education levels.