Educator recognized as national role model dies in Hunan

A retired teacher from Hengyang in China's Hunan province who was recognized as a national role model for the part she played in developing education in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region has died at the age of 99.

According to the Red Cross Society of China's Hunan Branch, Huang Houyu, who spent 33 years teaching in Xinjiang, passed away in hospital in Hengyang on Dec 17.

Fulfilling her longstanding wishes, her corneas were retrieved for possible transplantation, while her body was donated to Central South University's Xiangya School of Medicine in Changsha, the capital of Hunan, for medical research.

In 1951, Huang joined thousands of other women from Hunan in a national campaign to support the development of the Xinjiang region and, in early 1953, she volunteered as one of the first teachers at a newly-established school in the region. To aid the school's development, she used her savings to buy basic teaching supplies for 80 children.

Over her three decades in Xinjiang, first as a teacher and later as a school principal, more than 3,000 students passed through Huang's classrooms. Her dedication earned her the title of National Excellent Teacher in 1960.

Huang and her husband did not have children, but according to those close to her, she often said that "to me, the children in Xinjiang were my own".

After retiring to her hometown of Hengyang in 1984, Huang continued her commitment to education. This was evident in her work with a 14-year-old boy named Xiaohui, who had been turned away from multiple schools due to disabilities and developmental challenges. For three years, Huang and her husband used specialized methods to teach him basic communication, literacy and life skills, eventually enabling him to enroll in primary school.

In 2011, at the age of 85, Huang registered as an organ and body donor, with her decision inspiring several others, including a nephew and 16 fellow nursing home residents, to do likewise.

"Huang's departure is not an end, but a continuation of love," Xiao Yan, a staff member from the Red Cross Society of China Hunan Branch, told local media.