School fires fleeing teacher
2008-06-17 12:21
Beijing - A Chinese high school teacher
has been sacked and denounced by local media and internet users
for fleeing a classroom before his students during last month's
devastating earthquake.
Fan Meizhong, a Chinese-language teacher at a private high
school in quake-ravaged Dujiangyan in southwest Sichuan
province, has been branded "running Fan" on internet chatrooms
and came under fire for defending his actions online in a
lengthy post.
The 8.0 magnitude earthquake on May 12 killed more than
70 000 people, including thousands of children at their desks in what many parents believe were shoddily made school
buildings.
"At such a life-or-death moment, I would only consider
sacrificing my life for my daughter. I would not do it for
anyone else, even my mother," Fan wrote on a popular online
portal.
"In a flash I felt it - a big earthquake! Then I charged
to the building's stairs," Fan said, adding that he was the
first person to emerge from the school on to the soccer pitch.
None of the children in his literature class died in the
quake.
China's education ministry confirmed that Fan had been
dismissed, but said it was the school's decision and denied
media reports that it had issued a special order demanding it.
Fan said he had not ruled out suing the authorities over the
decision.
Fan's account has enraged China, as it struggles to rebuild
damaged cities and provide housing for millions of victims
displaced by the quake.
"I know many teachers died protecting children during the
earthquake... In this long essay, I can't see any 'person'
here, I just see a big 'me'," a post in response to Fan's
account said.
Despite a massive outpouring of charity in the wake of the
quake, Chinese bloggers have been quick to round on those
deemed unsympathetic.
Movie actress Sharon Stone drew scathing criticism late
last month after suggesting that "karma" might have played a
part in causing the earthquake after China's crackdown on
unrest in ethnic Tibetan areas in March.