Oil Spill Has Spilled Out Spell on Some Elementary Schools

“We may have to move into a new town again. Our family had a great time here. We enjoyed finishing and other things here. I wish we could have clean water back next year,” said a 9-year-old student Choi Min-yong, who attends Pado Elementary School in Taean County, which had been hit severely by the recent oil spill. Choi is looking forward to a sea and beach without black oil. When the snow colored the beach white yesterday, he ran out with his friends out of joy. But they felt gloomy again, seeing the remaining black oil residues on the sand beneath the snow.

His father Jang-ryeol, 37, first moved back to his hometown Pado-ri from Suwon in the spring of 2005. After quitting his work, he opened a sashimi restaurant along Pado-ri Beach, assisted by a 30 million won loan.

Famous for the cleanness of the area and quality of sashimi, his restaurant attracted lots of customers. But the hell broke loose when a ship spewed out oil into the sea off the coastal area. Now, his restaurant is almost empty.

Other students in the town also worry about their family businesses.

“We held family meeting. We talked about how to save more money. I suggested that we light up fewer bulbs and use less water for showers. My father told me not to worry about it. Still, my father worries about the money he will spend next year for my high school senior sister,” student Kim Da-sol, 11, wrote in her diary.

Like other elementary schools in the county, students of Pado still go to school even during winter vacation. To help parents who are busy cleaning the oil spill, the schools in the area are taking care of the kids during the daytime.

Even worse, the oil disaster may change the destiny of some schools in the community.

When the enrollment was reduced to 31 students, the educational authorities in the province publicly announced that it might close the Pado school. To prevent the shutdown, community leaders had been promoting incentives to lure new settlers to the area, including free grants of fishing license and free housing.

The promotional drive paid off and 7 households moved in last year with 11 more kids. The authorities no longer talked about the shutdown plan. Now, not only the new settlers, but also the original residents may have to leave the area.

The Pado school principal said, “Some classes have one or two students only. If a couple of students move out of our area, we cannot maintain separate classes for all students and may have to fire some teachers.”

A teacher at a nearby elementary school said, “More and more children are talking about moving away.”

mhjee@donga.com