Poor students score top marks thanks to financial aid programs

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Editor's note: To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, China Daily is publishing a series of stories on the changes and developments in various fields and industries.

When Alu Shabu was 15, he considered dropping out of school after his father and uncle passed away on the same day.

Born in a mountainous village in Ebian Yi autonomous county in Sichuan province, the impoverished ethnic Yi family was left with only their mother to rely on.