Children as young as six from Atuler village in Sichuan province have to scale a huge rockface using rickety ladders to go to school. Imagine if you had to literally scale a cliff to get to work or school, risking death each time. That’s what fifteen children do in an isolated mountain village in China to get to school, and after images of the potentially deadly climb went viral, Chinese authorities have promised to help.
Children from Atule'er village were pictured climbing vine ladders to go back to remote homes at 2,624 feet high. The perilous journey takes two hours and they are supervised by parents who use ropes to ensure their safety. An official of Shaojue County said the trip could be extremely dangerous and it had killed around eight residents. Due to the treacherous commute, some children from the village can't receive education after they reach school age
The Communist party secretary in Sichuan province said a steel staircase will be built while the government searches for a longterm solution, the Guardian reports.
For now, the children of Atuler village continue climbing down flimsy ladders and over bare rock races, while wearing their backpacks, for more than an hour to get to school. The journey is so treacherous, thateven or eight people have died attempting it. The kids only return home twice a month.
Chen Jie, who took the photographs of the climb that brought attention to the village, described the trek to the Guardian. “It is very dangerous. You have to be 100% careful,” he said. “If you have any kind of accident, you will fall straight into the abyss.”
These pupils, who aged between six and 15, were seen carrying heavy bags and supervised by three parents.
Their homes at the Atule'er village boasts an altitude of 4,600 feet.
The village is so remote that only 72 families live there, most of whom make a living by growing chillies.
Once the they arrive at the Le'er Primary School, the children stay there for two weeks before making the treacherous journey back down the mountain to visit their families.
Every time they come down or go up the mountain, their parents take it in turns to pick them up.
For the parents who are used to the journey, it takes them an hour to go down the cliff and an hour and a half to go up.
However for the young pupils, they need around two hours to scale the cliffs with the help of dangerous ladders.
30-year-old Chen Guji is one of the parents helped pick up the children on the day when reporters took the pictures.
Chen told the reporter he had to get up at 6am that morning in order to descend the peak to pick up his four daughter and one son, as well as other children.
His son, named Chen Muhei, is six years old and is the youngest of his five children.
The father used rope and tied a knot around his son's backpacks to ensure his safety.
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