More ethnic children return to school in SW China Pupils pose for photos after finishing their mid-term exams at a primary school in Nayon...

More ethnic children return to school in SW China

Pupils pose for photos after finishing their mid-term exams at a primary school in Nayong county, Southwest China's Guizhou province, May 9, 2012.[Photo/Xinhua]

A girl from the Miao ethnic group enjoys recess at a primary school in Nayong county, Southwest China's Guizhou province, May 9, 2012. She receives free lunches at school. [Photo/Xinhua]

Students from the Miao ethnic group walk to school in Nayong county, Southwest China's Guizhou province, May 9, 2012. [Photo/Xinhua]

Students of the Miao ethnic group account for 98 percent of the total enrollment of 741 at the school, situated deep in the Wumeng Mountain. Enrollment for the village's school-age Miao girls has increased to 100 percent, compared with less than half in the past, thanks to efforts by the local government to implement a nine-year compulsory education and the Spring Buds Program. China set up the program in 1989 to help young girls from poor families return to school.