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School safety top priority on Children's Day
May-20-2010

School safety has become the top priority as International Children's Day approaches, with education departments across Beijing urging the need to strengthen school security, Beijing Youth Daily reports.

Various safety measures are applied to a different number of students, notes an official from Xuanwu District Education Committee. He said students in groups of less than 200 should notify police stations near the relevant parks or museums they plan to visit in advance, while groups with more than 200 students should be escorted by police cars or security forces. Smaller groups with fewer than 30 students should also be escorted by security guards from the school.

The official added all schools in the district are required to give a 15-day advance notice before going somewhere on Children's Day.

Other districts echoed the security move, asking every school to submit detailed activity plans before students leave their schools.

Education committees from Xicheng, Dongcheng and Haidian also promised to provide the kids with a safe and happy Children's Day, and will not prohibit outgoing trips. Some kindergartens and schools have even invited parents to the campus to spend the holiday with the kids.

The safety precautions stem from a string of brutal school attacks which have occurred across the country in the past few months. On May 12th, a 48-year-old man killed seven children and two women with a kitchen cleaver at a kindergarten in northwest China's Shaanxi Province.