China’s ‘Ice Boy’ asked to leave new school because he’s now too famous

Image: Facebook/People’s Daily China

After being transferred to a private school so he would no longer walk four kilometers in the freezing snow just to attend class, China’s “Ice Boy” is now being asked to leave his new school. The school’s headmaster said it’s because they could not cope with the media attention the boy was getting.

Eight-year-old Wang Fuman’s life became known to the world for his heartbreaking story of walking miles in the cold just so he could take his exam at Zhuanshanbao Primary School. After his story went viral, he received help and was transferred to the Xinhua School, in the southwestern Yunnan province last month, The South China Morning Post reported last Thursday.

With this transfer, it meant that the boy can board at the institution to avoid the commute. But after only a week, Fuman’s father Wang Gangkui was told that he should pick up Funan and go back to his previous school. The report quoted the boy’s father, “I’m illiterate and I don’t understand why this school has kicked us out.”

The school’s headmaster Yang reasoned that because of Fuman’s sudden fame, the school has been receiving requests from the local government for inspection, and the media to do interviews.

“At first, I didn’t know … but later, I found out that Fuman had been identified by the Ministry of Education as a key figure to be helped in the government’s poverty alleviation efforts. There are very few such pupils in the whole Yunnan province,” Yang told the paper. “As a result, during these days of having him in my school, we received numerous requests from various levels of government departments to inspect us. Many media outlets also insisted on interviewing us. It was impossible for me to reject many of these requests.”

Yang initially offered the boy free education, but said that he wanted to keep it all low-profile. Even though teachers were advising him to take the opportunity as exposure, he explained “I just want our school to be an ordinary one. I don’t like the media spotlight.”

As a way to compensate, Yang gave Gangkui ¥15,000 (about P123,000) before the two left the school. He also offered help if they had problems in the future.

Although accepting the money, Gangkui expressed his disappointment with the school’s decision. He said, “We like Xinhua School. It’s a boarding school and there are teachers there who care for my boy and can instruct him in his studies.”

Funan also expressed that he liked his new school too. He was quoted in the report: “The teachers taught better than those at Zhuanshanbao Primary School. Pupils don’t talk in class and everyone is focused on studying.” Katrina Hallare/JB

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