Students sit at a rural school in the Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Southwest China's Sichuan Province. Photo: CFP |
Wang Lei, an independent documentary film director, posted a series of photos on Sina Weibo of his abandoned village primary school in rural Hunan Province.
One of the pictures showed the last words that were etched on the cracked classroom blackboard.
"Please take care."
For Wang, this place was more than just a school. "My grandfather, my father, my brother and I all graduated from this school. Now the school is gone, I feel like some of the village traditions have been buried with it too," Wang told the Global Times.
Abandoned schools are becoming a more common sight in rural China. Between 2000 and 2010, 63 primary schools, 30 teaching stations (smaller schools) and three secondary schools disappeared in rural areas every day, said a report by the 21st Century Education Research Institute, a non-governmental organization (NGO) focusing on China's public education system.
Landmark building should respect the public's feeling