His wife, who teaches at the same school, once urged him to take a better-paying post elsewhere. "But I explained to her that I enjoy my life here, and I want to teach children in my hometown," Pasang says.

The couple has lived in the school's staff dormitory for 10 years. While the school's hardware keeps improving, the simple dormitory of black sheet metal, shared by several teachers' families, has remained largely unchanged.

The school has gradually expanded: Two double-storied classroom buildings were built in recent years, housing a complete primary school - from kindergarten to grade six - with 318 students in eight classes. About 130 students board at the school, many subsidized by programs for farming and herding families.

Now the county has 10 schools, including a middle school, eight primary schools and a kindergarten. There are 197 teachers and 2,057 students at school, according to the county government's annual report. The county's investment in education reached 3.66 million yuan ($598,000) last year, accounting for 26.7 percent of its revenue.

Pasang admits that his school still lags behind those in many developed regions in many aspects.

For example, classes for natural sciences are still in a beginning stage. A lack of professional teachers and family education for children are great limitations, too.

In the past, teaching aids were in short supply and often handmade by teachers. Nowadays teachers have been learning to use multimedia tools to assist teaching.

The newly available Internet, he says, is very convenient.

"I can search for answers for students' questions as soon as the class is over," Pasang says.

Every teacher has access to computers in the school, and lesson plans are made on computers, rather than written by hand like before.

"Requirements for us teachers are higher, and we must overcome all the difficulties to keep up with the times," says Pasang.

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