Security guards to watch over schools

Security guards to watch over schools

    GUANGZHOU - Police have urged(呼吁) schools in the southern coastal [ˈkəʊstl](沿海)city of Guangzhou to hire security guards and carry out otherprecautionary [prɪˈkɔ:ʃəˌneri:](预防) measures to strengthen campus security after a string [striŋ](串) of school attacks nationwide.
    Every school in Guangzhou, capital city of South China's Guangdong province, should improve its security systems, and set up a squad [skwɔd](队) of security guards "if possible," Wu Sha, director of the city's public security bureau, was quoted by local Southern Metropolis Daily(南方都市报) on Friday.Schools also were urged to provide the security guards with protective gear [ɡiə](轮岗).
     Local police will monitor the entrances of schools and kindergartens through video surveillance [səˈveɪləns](监视)systems, as well as check public places near the schools, including Internet cafes, food stalls and roller-skating rinks, he said.
     More police booths will be set up in areas around schools and kindergartens, and more police will patrol [pəˈtrəul](巡逻)those areas.
     Also, public security bureaus will organize safety drills(演习) at citywide schools to enhance the students' awareness [əˈweənɪs](意识) of safety knowledge and emergency responses.
    The city's maritime [ˈmæritaim](海事) safety bureau is stationing more maritime police on every ferry, for escorting(护送) students who go to school by ferry, Chen Chukun, chief of maritime safety office in the city's Nansha district, was quoted as saying on Friday by Guangdong Television.
     Government departments at various levels and schools across China have already boosted(促进) efforts to ensure campus safety, after at least eight children died in five school attack cases since March 23.
     Shanghai has ordered the city's international schools to strengthen daily patrols and make sure the security equipment is in good condition, the Shanghai Daily reported on Friday.
International schools have also been asked to double-check(仔细检查) the qualifications of their security guards. The city has more than 23,000 foreign kindergarten, primary and secondary school students, according to the report.
     However, parents and school officials in Guangzhou are worried about how long these measures will last.
    "These actions are good buttemporary [ˈtempərəri](暂时的). I hope the local government can figure out some permanent [ˈpə:mənənt](永久的) measures to ensure our children's safety," said Guangzhou resident Liao Hui, father of an 11-year-old boy.
    "The city has about 20,000 schools, and that means a great number of police are needed under the new measures," said Deng Fangguo, president of the privately-run Guangzhou Siyuan School.