Thousands of security guards have been deployed in kindergartens and schools on Tuesday, one day before the launch of the autumn semester in China, in a bid to better safeguard campus security.

About 2,000 specially trained safety personnel, uniformed and wearing helmets and knife-proof vests, are deployed at kindergartens, primary and secondary schools in Beijing.

All schools in China should take student safety as their first priority and enact concrete measures to protect students from accidental injuries, Vice Education Minister Chen Xiaoya said last week.

Similar moves have been carried out across the country following six deadly school playground attacks within just three months from March to May this year.

Authorities in southeast China's Fujian Province sent 22,384 security guards to 16,197 kindergartens, primary and middle schools, according to figures from the provincial public security bureau.

In southwest China's Chongqing municipality, 45,278 policemen and security guards have been assigned to all schools in 42 districts and counties under its jurisdiction.

Chongqing has worked out a budget of 1.2 billion yuan (US$176 million) to build a prevention system to assure school yard security.

The Chongqing municipal education commission was also hoping to enact legislation on campus security and a draft is about to be completed.

The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Public Security jointly ordered, in a circular earlier this month, that all kindergartens and schools should ensure security personnel, video surveillance devices and alarm systems are in place before school opens to students.

The new autumn semester will start on Sept. 1 with about 220 million primary and middle students stepping onto campus.

(Xinhua News Agency September 1, 2010)