Several students are excitedly waiting in front of a 3D printer for the fruits of their labor to magically appear.

They're in the makerspace classroom at Baishuichuan Primary School in Tanchang county, Longnan city, Gansu province.

The school has organized student clubs for model aeroplanes and robots, among others, establishing well-equipped classrooms for these extracurricular activities that are designed to inspire innovation.

Starting from September 2017, the Ministry of Education stipulated that all primary schools in China should offer science courses for students from grade one, instead of the previous requirement of grade three.

It means science has become an equally important fundamental course at primary schools, just like Chinese and mathematics.

Although Tanchang county only lifted its people from absolute poverty in November, it has made a huge effort to boost science education among primary school students, with relatively limited resources compared with big cities.

Thanks to the support of the local government and public service organizations, the county's primary schools have established labs for students to carry out science experiments and many have even purchased equipment to teach science knowledge beyond the syllabus.

"It's important to ensure that students in such rural areas have access to learning, such as how to build model airplanes, design robots and join the 'maker' movement, just like their peers in big cities," says Niu Xiejun, a science teacher from Baishuichuan Primary School.

"When they enter society, they will have the confidence and ability to tackle challenges with both courage and insight."

In 2019, Longnan city started to hold an annual "maker" education contest for primary and middle school students, to stimulate the spirit of innovation and improve science literacy of students.

It offers a platform for the county's primary schools to showcase their science course achievements.

Under the guidance of Niu and other teachers, the students have won prizes at county, city and provincial level competitions.

In December, the school's students achieved both a second and third place at the 2020 World Robot Contest Finals in Foshan, Guangdong province.

"Some parents are afraid that joining such clubs will impact their children's studies. However, after seeing our accomplishments, they have become more supportive," Niu says.

When Niu took some students to participate in contests hosted by other provinces, it was, for many, the first time flying in a plane.

"They have not only broadened their horizons, but will also have the vision to plan a future life in the wider world," Niu says.

Some students can be a little too shy to join the clubs due to their poor academic performances, but Niu tries to encourage them to participate.

"It's essential to give them confidence. I often tell them that since they are capable of flying a model airplane, they can definitely do well in their studies," he says.

"The biggest gap between our students compared with children in big cities is a lack of a systematic study in these fields. Also, those in big cities have an early exposure to such themes, with a more flexible thought."

He teaches students the basics of programming and they give play to their talent to design different things.

"A fixed thinking pattern has limited the imagination of adults. Children, however, can give free rein to their ideas, which is the spirit of the 'maker' movement," Niu says.

He recalls that once he couldn't find a suitable part for a model airplane, but the next day the students cut a piece of a bus transit card, which made a perfect substitute.

"Students can hone their manual dexterity through science experiments, which can also arouse their interest in the subject," says Wang Ziping, a science teacher from the county's Chengguan No 2 Primary School.

He has joined WeChat groups of those who're interested in the fields like model airplanes and "maker "activities, some of whom are also primary school science teachers, to communicate with them and learn from them, so that he can get more inspiration for his classes.

A group of his students have designed a dustbin, made from a small carton, that automatically opens its lid to accept a piece of rubbish.

Wang Aiquan, headmaster of the county's Chengguan No 3 Primary School, says it's not easy to attract teaching talent to work at grassroots level school such as Tanchang county, a relatively less developed region.

A dearth of science teachers is a common problem for the county's primary schools.

"Those who major in physics, biology and geography prefer to work in local middle schools, where there is also a shortage of such teachers. Therefore, it's not uncommon for local primary schools to train current teachers to teach science, usually covering two subjects," he says.

Li Yongping, 41, who used to be a mathematics teacher at the school, began to teach both science and mathematics four years ago. Starting from this year, he only teaches science.

In the beginning, he had to teach himself to be well-prepared for classes and conduct experiments on his own.

"You need to make a conclusion based on the experiment. If there are errors, you may end up nowhere," Li says.

Among the school's 1,620 students, over 60 percent are from rural areas.