Joint social efforts urged for students' safety

A senior education official has called for joint efforts from schools, officials and parents to ensure students' safety as China marked the annual students' safety day.

"To reduce tragedies, schools need to enforce full safety measures with local governments as supervisors, parents fulfilling their duties as guardians, and the media promote safety knowledge and awareness," said Vice Minister of Education Liu Limin Monday.

Monday was the country's 20th National Safety Day for Primary and Middle School Students and schools organized various safety-themed activities, including evacuation drills.

While noting a regular annual drop in both accidents involving students and fatalities, Liu said that 97 percent of deaths of primary and middle school students occur outside school premises.

Poorly built school buildings and substandard school buses are a perennial concern.

A stampede in a primary school in southwest China's Yunnan Province resulted in the deaths of six children in September last year, leading to the sacking of seven government officials.

The last Monday of every March was designated student safety day in 1996. Online safety knowledge contests and TV programs offering safety guidance and promoting awareness are part of this year's edition. Endi