(Photo: Global Times)

How many desks can a 40-square-meter-room hold? Imagine 99 students squeezing in a small classroom! Yes, Xinhua county in China's Hunan Province has many such schools where students are packed in classrooms like sardines. There are more than 800 classrooms but the number of students - 160,000 - receiving compulsory education is equally big. And there are 8,000 students being added every year. It is equally exhausting for students and teachers. Confined to their chairs, students can hardly turn. Teachers use a microphone and can hardly remember students' names. The toilets are always packed with edgy students lined up after classes are over. The county's municipal education commission needs to build more classrooms to relieve the "student gridlock." It is more important for the Chinese government to pour more money and resources into poverty-stricken areas. After all, students have their rights and education should not come at this cost.