China's Ministry of Education has called upon all schools and kindergartens nationwide to strengthen measures to ensure campus safety, according to a statement from the ministry on Tuesday.

Local education departments around China should, as soon as possible, provide all primary and secondary schools, as well as kindergartens, with safety personnel, the statement said.

Other safety measures should also be intensified to ensure a flawless campus safety system, the statement added.

The statement also asked schools in the natural-disasters-affected regions to conduct thorough checks to focus on school buildings affected by recent floods and mudslides, to eliminate any safety risks.

School buildings found to have safety concerns should be quickly overhauled before being occupied, the statement said.

The statement told school officials to take precautions to protect the students from extremely bad weather, epidemics, mass food poisonings, fire and other accidents.

The statement also asked the school officials to organize more safety education and drills, as well as training for the teachers in the upcoming semester.

Most of the schools in China are to begin the new semester on September 1.

(Xinhua News Agency August 25, 2010)