A month after the 921 earthquake, the first batch of temporary classrooms were completed yesterday, ending a period in which students attended classes in tents.
But some educators believe the disaster is an opportunity to restructure schools and integrate them within their communities, saying there is no hurry to get students back into their classrooms.
A private alliance for post-disaster reconstruction, headed by Academia Sinica President Lee Yuan-tseh (
PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES
"Restoring the school buildings may not be the best solution," Lee said. For example, some schools were originally intended for a small community. With the expansion of the community over time, they should probably be broken down into smaller schools in different locations, he said.
"If we only try to have the collapsed schools rebuilt, we can only restore their original appearance and at the most, make sure the buildings won't collapse again. But we will miss an opportunity to realize our ideals in education," Lee said.
The alliance proposed taking two months to review the problems with traditional school buildings, such as the lack of interaction with the local community, so that improvement can be made when the schools are being reconstructed.
The reconstruction should also take into consideration future teaching formats, which require a high level of coordination among teachers and are set to start in elementary and junior high schools in the year 2001, the alliance suggested.
"During these two months, the private groups sponsoring the reconstruction should sit down and have a good discussion about these issues," Shih Ying (
A total of 825 schools either collapsed or were damaged in the 921 quake. The Ministry of Education has found private sponsorship for the reconstruction of 70 collapsed and severely damaged elementary and junior high schools.
The alliance has employed professionals to work on sample blueprints for the reconstruction. It is also working on an information system to ensure the reconstruction process is transparent and prevent problems such as bid-rigging.
Architect Lin Chih-cheng (林志|?, who is in charge of drafting the blueprints, said that all the contracting information concerning the reconstruction projects should be posted on a single, easily accessible Web site so that the process is open to public scrutiny.
Tsai Lung-ken (
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