Students in Qingshan Middle School in Xinhua county in Central China's Hunan province, who once lived in shabby dorms, have moved into their new dormitories temporarily following media reports on their plight.

Xinhua county authorities have launched a project, which is about to start soon, to renew school dormitories.

Earlier media reports said students had to live in a nearly 60-year-old, dilapidated house, known as a "cavelike dorm", and that as many as 10 students shared a big plank of wood as their bed.

Wu Sanxi, headmaster of Qingshan Middle School, said that getting rid of the shabby dorm had always been a concern.

Xinhua county has long been stricken by poverty. Qingshan Middle School is not an isolated case; many other schools in the county also have been troubled by the poor condition of student housing.

In recent years, local authorities in Xinhua county have attached great importance to education, with increasing financial input. Thanks to this, Wu’s proposal to rehabilitate the school dorms finally got underway.

The construction of new dormitories has made Wu and his students triumphant. Wu said his next goal is to turn the school’s dirt roads into concrete ones.

According to students from Qingshan Middle School, many of them had to board at the school because their homes are too far away.

Some students had moved out to live with relatives or rented a room near the school; only 30 students chose the dorms.

At present, there are 438 students and 38 faculty members at the school. Previously, some teachers also had no choice but to live in the "cavelike dorm".