would you walk to school if...

[Amby 490]

Children in a remote part of China face a hazardous walk to school - because it is halfway up a sheer cliff.

The school in Gulu village, Sichuan province, lies halfway up a mountain and climbing up from the base takes five hours.

The elementary school has only one teacher who has been there for 26 years, reports the West China City Daily.

Villagers say going to school is very dangerous for the children, since the path is only 1ft 4ins wide at the narrowest point and has a sheer drop on one side.

Walking along the narrow, zigzagging path also makes the children feel dizzy, they say.

The school has five concrete buildings and a playground with a basketball hoop made of two wooden poles and a broken blackboard.

However, the children are allowed to only pat the balls, as if they throw them and they go over the edge of the cliff, it would take half a day to retrieve them.

Shen Qijun, 45, the teacher, has threatened to quit several times, but each time the villagers plead with him to stay as there would be nobody else to teach their children.

Shen teaches Chinese and Math to the students, but says only two students in 26 years have gone on to university because of the isolation.

A volunteer who has been teaching there for three months said: "The students work very hard, but they have never seen computers, cars or even flushing toilets."

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_3068897.html?menu=

[SaadBell 0]

OMG, that is some kind of walk, I would fall I just know it. Those poor kids, wish they could make that more safe.

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Jesus!

[Amby 490]

It does look like it's a beautiful walk/climb

[NickD 203]

And here I thought having to walk 5 miles to school uphill both ways was bad. Never knew I had it so good.

[panamania79 2]

Children in a remote part of China face a hazardous walk to school - because it is halfway up a sheer cliff.

The school in Gulu village, Sichuan province, lies halfway up a mountain and climbing up from the base takes five hours.

The elementary school has only one teacher who has been there for 26 years, reports the West China City Daily.

Villagers say going to school is very dangerous for the children, since the path is only 1ft 4ins wide at the narrowest point and has a sheer drop on one side.

Walking along the narrow, zigzagging path also makes the children feel dizzy, they say.

The school has five concrete buildings and a playground with a basketball hoop made of two wooden poles and a broken blackboard.

However, the children are allowed to only pat the balls, as if they throw them and they go over the edge of the cliff, it would take half a day to retrieve them.

Shen Qijun, 45, the teacher, has threatened to quit several times, but each time the villagers plead with him to stay as there would be nobody else to teach their children.

Shen teaches Chinese and Math to the students, but says only two students in 26 years have gone on to university because of the isolation.

A volunteer who has been teaching there for three months said: "The students work very hard, but they have never seen computers, cars or even flushing toilets."

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_3068897.html?menu=

I wonder if these poor kids get the proverbial "In my day we walked to school 10 miles in the snow" speech from their grandparents.

[Niels Bohr 72]

The other thing is that these villagers cannot afford to move out because they are too poor. And, a lack of a roadway system also makes it very hard to travel especially if you're living in poverty.

[mawilson 2,133]

I guess there's a big fall in the number of pupils with top grades?

[Amby 490]

I guess there's a big fall in the number of pupils with top grades?

[natty bumppo 297]

And here I thought having to walk 5 miles to school uphill both ways was bad. Never knew I had it so good.

you didn't have 3 feet of snow ... gusting wind ... and sub-0F temperatures year round too?

[almaty 19]

i agree..those kids are tough

[Niels Bohr 72]

Another mind boggling thing to think about is that many or alot of Engineering Professors in the US are from China. They are tough!

[*JG* 2]

That is just crazy. Beautiful, as someone said, but in such a scary way.

[Peikko 1,575]

I don't think they walk the full 5 hours - I think that was just to illustrate just how remote the village is - it's still a rather hazerdous walk though.

[HAL 9000 96]

Imagine on a Mountain Bike. I did do the World's Most Dangerous Road ride... but nothing like what these kids do. Scary.