Fan Meizhong, referred to by some as "Runner Fan" for leaving behind his students, as he escaped the May 12 earthquake, has been dismissed by his school, after local education authorities revoked his teaching certificate.
The revocation means Fan will be unlikely to find a teaching job anywhere in the country for the next five years.
Fan said he may sue the government for its actions.
Fan was given the nickname after he published a post on the Internet defending his running away instead of helping his pupils.
At the time of the earthquake, he was taking a literature class at a school in Guangya, Dujiangyan, Sichuan province.
"I have never been a brave man, and I'm only really concerned about myself," he wrote in his blog.
"At such a moment, I doubt I would have even cared about my mother," he wrote in his blog.
"I would only sacrifice myself for my daughter."
His comments provoked an angry reaction from many Internet users, some of whom called for his dismissal.
Qing Guangya, the headmaster of the Guangya school, confirmed he dismissed Fan after receiving a notice from the local education authorities on Wednesday, saying Fan's teaching qualification had been cancelled.
The authorities are allowed to do that, just as vehicle administrators can revoke a driving license, he said.
Fan said the revocation of his license was a direct intervention by an executive power into education.
"They decided that unilaterally, without giving me any chance to explain my position," Fan said.
He said he had not dismissed the possibility of taking out a lawsuit against the government, even if he had little hope of winning.
"As a citizen you must have the consciousness of fighting for your rights. Even if the dismissal accords to the law, which actually illustrates the imperfection of law itself, I hope to take this opportunity to propel social thinking on education."
Wang Xuming, a spokesman for the education ministry, said that he was aware of Fan's case.
"We have heard of it, and are now investigating and verifying what happened," he told China Daily.
According to the Regulations on the Qualifications of Teachers, administrative offices above county level can revoke a teaching certificate under two conditions: if the qualification was attained by cheating; or if a teacher is found to have behaved improperly, such as insulting students or having a bad influence on them.
Once a teacher has been disqualified, he or she cannot reapply for a license for five 5 years.
News of Fan's dismissal has also been spread on the Internet.
"I agree with the authority's decision to revoke his teaching certificate. There can be no excuse for what he did," a netizen named Ireland Flute said.
Another, known as Shenzhen Days, disagreed.
"It cannot be seen as a social progress if one gets punished for speaking out," he said.
Source: China Daily
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