That’s one way to get to the top of the class…

The terrifying climb of Chinese school children as young as five, forced to scale sheer cliffs to get to school.

The mountain-top village of only 100 residents is cut off from the outside world, apart from ladders leading to the valley below.

Brave schoolchildren use the wooden ladders, with no safety precautions, to get to school every day

Five-year-old Liu Dan explained: ‘It’s quite high but I try not to look down’

These schoolchildren in southern China are so keen to get to school that they make the perilous journey on narrow wooden ladders every day, with no safety precautions.

Their village in the remote Badagong mountains, in Sangzhi county, is surrounded by sheer drops on every side, making the school run a daily struggle.

The only way out of Zhang Jiawan village, unless the children have time for a four-hour cross country detour, is via a series of rickety-looking ladders leading down to the valley below.

5-year-old Yu Xinxin, who climbs the ladders to school every day, is seen reading before she sets off on her long morning journey (picture below).

‘My parents showed me how to do it safely and now I don’t think too much about how high it is,’ she added.

Villagers have asked local officials to supply a road down to the valley so that these children do not have to risk their lives.

However, the road over the difficult terrain would cost nearly £10 million so residents are not getting their hopes up that it will happen any time soon.

‘There are fewer than 100 people living there. It would be cheaper to buy them all helicopters,’ said one.

Contributed by: http://oyiabrown.com/

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Categories: Education & Employment

Tags: Badagong mountains, China, Education, Hunan, Liu Dan, Sangzhi, Sangzhi County, Villagers, Zhang Jiawan