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Download Education officials in Macheng, Hubei province, have been asked to dig into their own pockets to help buy desks and chairs for primary school students in an impoverished area. The move follows the publication on Monday of pictures of children in Shunhe township carrying furniture for the first day of the new school semester. As of Tuesday, enough money had been pledged by officials to buy 100 sets of desks and chairs, according to Ruan Jing, a publicity official for the city. Each set costs about 250 yuan ($39), she said, adding that authorities are also asking companies for help. On Monday, the Changjiang Times reported that more than 3,000 primary school students in Shunhe were forced to carry desks and chairs from their homes to the school, with the help of their parents, due to a shortage of supplies. The paper also reported the story of Wang Ziyi, a 5-year-old girl, who took a 24-year-old desk to school. Her grandfather told the paper that the desk was used by the girl's father, uncles and aunts. The report has caught the public's attention, with netizens accusing authorities of not providing appropriate school supplies to students. According to a statement from the Macheng publicity office, authorities started a "Proper Study Desk" project in March 2017, to bring an end to the era of taking desks to schools. The planned cost of the project is 4 million yuan. | 
