Migrant school leaders detained

By Wang Wei (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-03-09 09:47

Two principals of schools for migrant children were reportedly detained by village committees in Chaoyang district over the disputed relocation of their schools.

Luo Chao, principal of the Cuigezhuang Experimental School, told METRO he was brought before the Cuigezhuang village committee on Sunday night. He was released Monday morning.

"Even though I was released, there were a bunch of men in police uniforms walking outside the school's front gate to watch me," Luo said.

He said some principals of schools for the children of migrant workers were planning to file a petition against the Cuigezhuang village challenging the relocation of their schools before new locations were provided. The information was leaked to the village committees, Luo said.

"They didn't want us to appeal to the higher authorities," he said.

Li Junshan, principal of the Beigao Experimental School, another primary school for such children, received a phone call from the village committee at 4 pm Sunday summoning him to the office of the Beigao village committee to discuss the clearing of his school, Yuan Haitao, a colleague of Li's said. Li had not returned home as of Monday evening, Yuan said.

METRO repeatedly attempted to reach the Beigao village committee on Monday but the calls went unanswered.

The Chaoyang district education committee said last week that the government will arrange new schools for each of the nearly 3,000 children affected by the rapid urbanization of the district.

Yuan said that land in Cuigezhuang town has been reclaimed and reserved for undisclosed future use. A massive campaign of demolition is under way there.

The Beijing Times newspaper reported in December that a central theater district, a complex of 12 Broadway-style theaters, will be built in the area.

The village committee had ordered eight primary schools and a dozen kindergartens for the children of migrant workers to move out before Feb 28, leaving more than 4,000 children of migrant workers stranded, according to Yuan. However, only a few children have been reassigned because other schools in the area are either overcrowded or have refused to accept migrant students, he said.

Yuan said Li was worried about gaps in his students' studies, so he moved the school to the Changping district, where more than 600 students followed him.