"Whether [the low childrens eyeglasses rate] is related to our [education] model, without scientific research, we don't know." Zhang Pingyuan said that the school does not deliberately prevent myopia, it is a "routine prevention." "It is mainly related to the amount of time children play," he said.

For many years, there has been a debate on the cause of myopia in the academic world, there are genetic theories and environmental theories. But genetic changes are too slow to explain the spike in myopia rates over the decades. According to a study published in the journal Nature, the main reason for nearsightedness is a lack of time spent outdoors. Outdoor activity is important because it exposes the eyes to bright light. In Fanjia Primary School, students are in a state of "free range" to a certain extent.

Zhang Pingyuan was transferred to Fanjia Primary School from the local education bureau more than five years ago to promote "student-centered education" at the rural boarding school, where most children are left behind.

Here, grades are less important and play is compulsory; Often only a few people occupy the "three good students" evaluation, replaced by self-choice when the "eight beautiful youth" one; Instead of comparing students to each other, each child is compared to "yesterday's self." The traditional rows of teaching tables and chairs have been thrown into the storeroom, replaced by desks that can sit facing each other, as if at a family dinner; The course is not only "language number, foreign sound and body beauty", but also local lessons that can be taken in villages and mountains.

"It's not that we don't look at scores." This is what Zhang Pingyuan repeatedly stressed to visitors, "but to give children more choices." The time of enlightenment for each child is not the same, and the same seeds are sown, not necessarily blooming and bearing fruit on the same day. We say we're going to college in the future, so we just focus on the number of words and nothing else? Is it not necessary to develop children's physical health, language communication, and ability to identify and deal with problems?"

At Fanjia Primary School, free light is a well-used resource. The campus is as big as the playground, the ground is covered with artificial turf, the color is similar to the vegetable field, and the playground has a swing made of discarded tires. Children freely eat, roll, chase and play in the sun. Standing in the corridor of the teaching building, you can look out over the green hills.

In addition to the more than five hours of school and 11 hours of sleep a day, children can play outside as much as they like. If it is in the morning, after finishing the eye exercises in the classroom, the children should go to the playground to run and do gymnastics. Even when classes are held, a third of the classes are outdoors, including physical education, nature observation, and country classes.

There's no shortage of electronics. In class, students look at electronic whiteboards, have a tablet computer in hand, and a computer in each classroom for teachers and students to consult information. Electronics are heavily used here, but they are also managed, and tablets are mostly used for teaching, which teachers collect after class. In class, teachers also touch children's heads from time to time to remind them to keep their eyes away from the book.