China’s School of Rock Doesn’t Roll But Closes
The Getu Village Cave Primary School in Guizhou province, southern China was constructed after local education authorities refused to build a school for the remote mountain community.
And now it is being closed it after pictures of the cavern school circulated around the world, angering those same officials who claim the world now views China as a “nation of cavemen.”
Residents of the remote area were very proud of the school, equipped with classrooms and playground, which they all had a hand in creating. Now the 186 pupils will attend a new nearby school built out of a need to “save face.”
“It is a shame. Even in the playground we didn’t have to worry about the weather, as it was always dry. The acoustics were great. We had the best choir in the area and there were also several rock strata visible on the walls, which made teaching geology far more interesting. And we didn’t need books for biology because we had bats and lizards in there all day,” said former headmaster. Xi Lin Chun.
Officials have fired most of the cavern school staff and moved those teachers remaining to the new school.
“China is not a society of cavemen,” said a government education spokesman.
One can only ponder whoever said they were in the first place.
Building a school out of rock is no minor achievement. It indicates perseverance and acute ingenuity.
It is unfortunate that the construction of this school could not be considered an accomplishment akin to that old adage of “making lemonade out of lemons.”
(Link)
By MDeeDubroff on 09-02-2011
