China urges better prevention of student drownings

The Ministry of Education (MOE) on Sunday reported multiple drowning accidents involving students in the past two weeks and called for precautions against further tragedies.

The ministry reported that around 6 p.m. on April 24, six sixth-grade students from Tonghai County in southwest China's Yunnan Province fell into a lake and drowned after the boat they were in capsized.

In another case, at around 1 p.m. on April 25, two secondary school students from Hengfeng County of Jiangxi Province in east China drowned while swimming in the local reservoir.

On April 27, at around 1 p.m., the seventh-grade student Lv Jia, from Huanggang City of Hubei Province in central China, drowned when attempting to rescue another student from the river.

The ministry called on schools to draw lessons from the tragedies and take precautions against future losses by alerting students in class meetings, on blackboard notices, and through cell phone short messages.

Students are required to pay special attention to safety when swimming and urged not to attempt to rescue drowning classmates if they cannot swim or when water conditions are not safe.

The ministry also urged enhanced parental participation in supervising children's safety after school and during the holidays.

The report stressed that local education departments should urge authorities to step up safety measures around water bodies.