MOST parents realize that their child’s education is very important, but many cannot afford for them to have special one-on-one tuitoring.

    One lucky learner in the mountainous foothills of Hubei Province has a teacher all to herself — as there are no other pupils at her rural “micro school” in Central China.

    Budaixi Primary School in Xuan’en County, Enshi, Hubei, has only one pupil and one teacher due to fast population shift under China’s urbanization, the People’s Daily Online reported.

    Tan Xianzi, 6, receives one-on-one lessons every day from Guo Zuqing, 51.

    He teaches her arithmetic and Chinese, and even plays with her during her lunch break as there are no other children to keep her company.

    During its “peak” years, the school, which is over 60 years old, had primary and secondary school classes.

    Now, however, Xianzi is the only child left, and her family is undecided as to whether she will continue her education at the school next semester.

    According to local education bureau figures, Budaixi Primary School is one of 35 “micro schools” in the area.

    Micro schools, it states, are defined as schools with less than 15 pupils and teachers altogether.

    In recent years, more and more locals have left Xuan’en for work and enroll their children in large city schools.

    Local schools have seen attendance fall dramatically, and many, like Budaixi Primary School, are in danger of closing.

    According to the International Labor Organization, China has some of the highest internal migration levels in the world.

    Since 1979, around 340 million people have migrated from villages and towns to urban areas.

    Researchers predict that Chinese cities will see an influx of another 243 million migrants by 2025, taking the country’s urban population to nearly 1 billion. (SD-Agencies)