------(Reporters: Zhu Yingtao, Li Yun and Li Jianmin)

Source: Xinhuanet.com

12-04-2008 13:51

Special Report:   30 Years of Changes

30 years of reform and opening-up: military camps report) “Elementary school under tents” and its “soldier principals”

The school founded and managed by Chinese border forces in 1984 was  officially incorporated into the local education system in 2007.

Xinhuanet.com, Wenshan, Yunnan, December 3 (reporters: Zhu Yingtao, Li Yun and Li Jianmin) Twenty-four years ago, the “elementary school under tents”was set up by the border forces with two military tents. It had then nine pupils. Now, it has already become the best elementary school in Malipo County. The Chinese border forces have maintained the policy of cultivating border areas and enriching the people for over 20 years and have achieved substantial accomplishments.

The “elementary school under tents” is located in the verdant mountains in Bajiaoping Village, Tianbao Township, Malipo County, in the Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province. There is a direct distance of just 800 meters between the school and the China-Vietnam border.

In December 1984, the border troops stationed in Tianbao Township, Malipo County brought together the out-of-school children from the nearby villages. And under  two military tents, they set up this temporary school and appointed the soldier with the best educational background as its principal and teacher. Over the past 20 years, border soldiers have come and gone in rotations, and the school has been relocated six times, with eight “soldier principals”presiding the school in succession. However, the children’s voice of reading can always be heard from the tents despite all these changes.

From the very beginning, the “elementary school under tents” has provided education for free. All required fees for children attending the school have been covered by donations from the officers and men of the border forces. The school’s enrollment has children from five villages around Bajiaoping Village. The pupils´ ethnicities include Miao, Yao, Zhuang, Yi and Han. As these villages are located deep in the mountains, traffic is very difficult and they are lagging far behind in economic development.