184 8 School Mapping and Boarding in the Context ...
and they receive 60 yuan as a living subsidy per month, comprising 50 yuan from
central government and 10 yuan from Zhaojue County. These arrangements have
resulted in improved conditions for boarders in Sikai and Bier. Students’ dormi-
tories are neat and tidy and uniform: sheets, quilts and pillow towels are in same
design and color; the spartan environment is clean and well ordered. This can be
compared to living conditions in rural households where space if often shared with
animals and basic hygiene a problem.
In rural and mountainous areas school mergers have increased distance to
school for those who attend daily. Those who attend weekly may be faced with
a journey of several hours to get home. Thus for example the students attend-
ing Yiku village central primary school in Zhaojue spend 2 h or more walking to
school each way, and only have food before leaving home. They have to travel
through rugged mountain paths and raging rivers on the way to school with
potential risks which become severe in bad weather. Since they are non resident
students the school does not provide meals. They have to wait until 6 pm to eat
again. There are many areas and villages where small schools have been closed or
merged schools without appropriate arrangement for schools buses or other meth-
ods of reaching the new schools.
Transportation issues can be resolved where the infrastructure is improving and
the terrain not too difficult. Thus in Majuqiao town in Tongzhou the town gov-
ernment in collaboration with bus companies has supplied 11 buses to transport
students three times per day. They have also allocated a specific teacher to each
bus and have set stops. Every child pays 300 yuan per year for the commute. This
arrangement serves 748 students from 25 administrated villages and is popular.
More generally it is clear that problems related to accommodation and transport
vary greatly across the case study areas. The variations in economic level, geo-
graphic conditions and political preferences create different challenges. Ansai and
Zhaojue both have many more obstacles to the implementation of policy to consol-
idate schools than does Tongzhou. The “attending the nearest principle” may need
moderating in the light of the realities of physical access in different areas.
8.6 Achievements and Problems of School Mapping
Development
The evidence on the effects of the school consolidation and merger, and of large
scale boarding schools in rural areas is accumulating. Based on the discussion
above and insights from the literature and from three fieldwork sites, both achieve-
ments and problems are becoming clearer and are synthesized below.