BEIJING, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- Senior leader Li Changchun on Tuesday urged Chinese people to learn from a heroic principal who saved more than 2,000 students during an 8.0-magnitude earthquake that jolted southwest China's Sichuan Province in 2008.
Li, a standing member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, made the remark during a meeting with the relatives of Ye Zhiping, the deceased principal of the Sangzao Middle School in Sichuan's Anxian County.
Li said Ye's achievements and distinguished spirit represent a model that all teachers should follow, and also embody the advanced nature of a model CPC member.
Li called on all of society to learn from Ye in a bid to create a better education system for all of China's people.
Concerned about the structural integrity of local school buildings, Ye collected funds to strengthen existing structures and provide earthquake survival training for his students.
Ye's efforts saved a total of 2,323 students when the earthquake struck on May 12, 2008, as not a single student was injured or killed in his school. The 57-year-old Ye passed away in June.
Small donations make a meal for poor rural children