Mixed response to school dorm plan

Principals from rural primary schools and educational experts have expressed mixed opinions on the building of dormitories for students who live far from their schools, at a forum held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Friday.

Teacher Chu Xiuzhen asks pupils to go to sleep in a dormitory at Madian Primary School in mountainous Jinzhai county, Anhui province, in April. The school's dormitory accommodates 19 students. [Photo by Liu Junxi/Xinhua]

Most of the 54 principals from the poverty-stricken areas in eight provinces, including Yunnan and Guizhou, visited Beijing for the first time. The China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation sponsored the principals' attendance on a three-day study tour in the capital city.

Duan Yingbi, head of the charitable organization, said his foundation had raised about 36.68 million yuan ($5.77 million) to help rural primary schools build new dormitories by the end of July.

Duan said the demand for boarding schools has become increasingly urgent in mountainous and remote areas after the educational authorities have been shutting down small village primary schools since the 1990s, forcing many students to walk long distances in order to receive an education.

The trend of closing schools in villages is due to shrinking numbers of students in rural areas as large numbers of migrant workers take their children to China's cities, Duan said.

About 279,000 primary schools in rural areas had been shut down from 1997 to 2009, China Youth Daily has reported, citing statistics from the Ministry of Education.

The foundation also found that although some rural primary schools provided dormitories for students who lived far away from the school, the conditions of the rooms were usually poor and many had potential safety hazards.

It is estimated that some 15,600 primary schools in China's vast rural areas are in need of dormitories for their students, according to the statistics released by the foundation on Friday.

An Jianrong, an official from the foundation, said the charitable project, Building Nests Action, that launched last year will house about 5,880 pupils in 49 rural primary schools in new dormitories by the end of this year.

Long Anzhong, principal of Gaopa Primary School in Rongjiang county in Guizhou, said some of his students take a three hour round trip on bumpy roads to travel from school to home and the situation can be dangerous in bad weather.

"Having dormitories will be very good news for our students," said Yao Yanqin, another primary school's principal in Guizhou's Hezhang county, explaining that many of her students will no longer need to wake up at 5 am to rush to school.

"In our county, older students to take the younger children from the same village to kindergarten, so what really bothers me is that when those older children live in dormitories, who can send their younger siblings and friends to kindergarten?" she said.

Cheng Tiesheng, vice-president of Heren Charity Foundation that donated 10 million yuan to the project, has concerns about how the experience of boarding school will affect pupils' psychological health.

"Primary school students are usually aged from six to 14, and for them, receiving love and care from their parents and family is vital for their development, so I am worried about the negative effect on children once they are separated from their families and live at school," he said.

Kang Jian, a retired professor from Peking University's Graduation School of Education, echoed Cheng's remarks and added that allowing young students to live in dormitories will increase the workload of teachers and influence the quality of teaching.

He also stressed that there is no one-size-fits-all solution.

It should be flexible and take every child's specific needs into consideration when deciding whether he or she should live in a school dormitory or not, he said.

The Ministry of Education adjusted its policies in terms of shutting down schools in rural areas in late July.

The new guidance stipulates that local educational authorities should ensure that students in primary and junior high can reach school within 40 minutes either by walking or traveling by school bus.

hedan@chinadaily.com.cn