Specific school security law in urgent need

But since police cannot be expected to guard schools and kindergartens every day, other security measures had to be taken by schools. There was a marked improvement in the infrastructure of primary schools, including the installation of closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras. Such improvement in the security setup, however, was seen only in big cities whereas such attacks mostly take place in small cities, counties and towns.

After a school attack, local administrations issue notices urging all schools to beef up security, but their instructions usually boil down to teachers with rubber batons guarding the gates when students troop into schools and leave for home. Many schools cannot do more than this because they don't have enough budgets to make security foolproof in and around the campus.

Perhaps the lack of security in a primary school in Macheng county, Hubei, "encouraged" a man to attack children on the school's playground one afternoon in late May. The attacker, a migrant worker, chased and stabbed eight students with a kitchen knife in the playground before being subdued by a security guard and a male teacher. The entire episode was captured by a CCTV camera. After the video footage was posted online, local education and public security authorities vowed to strengthen security in and around schools.

But given the frequency and intensity of such attacks, the government needs to pass a specific law on school security, which will also fix the responsibilities of relevant parties. The law should also make provisions for budgets for security networks of schools.

In fact, way back in 1999 several teachers from Hubei had proposed to the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, to draft such a law. Such a demand was again raised in 2010 when a series of attacks left the nation stunned. So, it's time lawmakers gave serious thought to drafting such a law, because the safety and security of children should be the top priority of any government.

The author is a writer with China Daily. liyang@chinadaily.com.cn.