One man's Long March to educate
(AFP)
Updated: 2006-01-23 14:29

Call it the Long March approach to education -- Xu Xiangyang and hundreds of his students are taking the road less travelled in China in hopes it will make a difference to their lives.

Students read from the textbooks at a campsite. Often referred to in China as the "Walking School" Xu Xiangyang has taken a different approach to helping troubled children by taking his school on the road. Equipped with 20 trucks, tents and cooking equipment, Xu and his troops aged eight to 18, first hit the road in 2002 and have since walked more than 30,000 kilometres (18,600 miles) through China. [AFP]

Often referred to in China as the "Walking School", Xu runs a quasi-military educational programme for troubled children and adolescents that aims to instill the values of discipline, hard work, respect and a sense of community.

"The idea is to let the children fully experience their lives and sharpen their wits through walking and travelling," Xu told AFP.

"By walking with and living in a group they will be able to shake off their laziness and selfishness," Xu said.

Xu, who hails from Jiangsu province in China's east, near Shanghai, said his struggle to educate his own rebellious son inspired him to this quasi-Buddhist approach to education.

The 46-year old retired middle-school teacher believes that the pain of marching long distances brings learning and understanding about oneself, others and the natural order of things.

Four years ago, neighbours who were attracted to Xu's form of instilling education and discipline, began to ask for his help with their own disobedient children.

A student looks out from a truck converted into a dormitory. Often referred to in China as the "Walking School" Xu Xiangyang has taken a different approach to helping troubled children by taking his school on the road. [AFP]

Xu then hit on the idea of establishing his educational boot camp.

"Instead of being restricted by the boundaries of a small town, this approach will broaden their minds," Xu said as his team camped out in on the outskirts of Chengdu city, in China's southwestern Sichuan province.

Equipped with 20 trucks, tents and cooking equipment, Xu and his troops aged eight to 18, first hit the road in 2002.

They have since walked nearly three times the distance of the Chinese Red Army's 1930s epic trek for survival known as the Long March, which runs at least 12,500 kilometres (7,750 miles).

His squad of some 200 students has travelled more than 30,000 kilometres (18,600 miles) through China's eastern Shandong province, central Hubei, Hunan and Anhui province, northern Inner Mongolia, Beijing and Tianjin.

Students can join or leave anytime. Tuition is 2,000 yuan (US$250) per person each month.