SANSHA -?China's southernmost school opened on Yongxing island, Sansha city, on Thursday. The school has 29 students and eight teachers.

Sansha was officially established in 2012 to administer the Xisha, Zhongsha and Nansha islands and their surrounding waters in the South China Sea.

In their first lesson, the students were taught about the map of Hainan Province, of which Sansha is a part, the map of China and a nearby boundary marker.

"We want to let the children learn about the maps of where we live and study and to teach them to love the sea of ours," said Li Zanzong, head of the school.

In addition to the regular curriculum, which is the same as that taught in Haikou City, capital of Hainan, the school has special courses such as water-borne traffic safety and ocean environment, said Li.