School safety was in focus again yesterday when the Ministry of
Education (MOE) reminded all schools, including kindergartens, that
safety education is mandatory.
The message took on a particular sense of urgency and purpose
following the devastating floods in Ning'an, in northeast China's
Heilongjiang
Province, which killed 99 primary school children.
Six specific measures have to be implemented to ensure safety at
schools, said Chen Xiaoya, vice minister of education, during a
teleconference jointly held by the Ministry of Public Security and
the MOE yesterday in Beijing.
Schools have to coordinate safety measures with local public
security authorities.
Local authorities should conduct safety checks in schools
nationwide. Any classroom deemed dangerous has to be renovated or
rebuilt.
School buses have to undergo safety checks by traffic
departments, private vehicles are not allowed to be used as school
buses.
The production and dealing of dangerous goods and articles are
strictly forbidden on campus. Vehicles which do not belong to the
school cannot be parked on the campus.
Emergency drills to handle floods, mudslides, earthquakes and
fire have to be held in both urban and rural schools.
Boarding schools should have night patrols and roll calls to
check all students are in the dormitory.
"Safety education is being emphasized once more," said Ma
Jiabin, an official with the Elementary Education Division of MOE,
referring to the Shalan flood.
Safety awareness already has a place in the school curriculum
and since 1996 the last Monday in March has been designated Safety
Education Day for primary and secondary schools, Ma said.
Different themes are chosen each year and, with road accidents
being listed as the No 1 student killer, traffic safety has become
this year's focus. "The whole of society ought to shoulder it,
especially parents, who are our children's first teachers," said
Ma.
(China Daily June 17, 2005)