China launches 3-year school building reinforcement program

BEIJING, May 8 (Xinhua) -- China has launched a
three-year program that aims to examine each and every school building across
the country for safety flaws and reinforce those in earthquake-prone areas for
the first step.

"We must make sure all primary and middle school
buildings are safe and strong, and will be able to pass the test of history,"
State Councilor Liu Yandong told a national tele-conference Friday.

Liu, who is also a member of the Political Bureau of
the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, said all local governments
should be responsible for building safer schools, or fixing those that were
already standing, so that the buildings could stand up to problems such as
natural disasters.

"To make sure that school buildings are safe places
has a significant bearing on the fundamental interests of the people, and thus
social stability," Liu said.

Liu asked education regulators and governmental
supervisors to keep detailed safety records on each school building nationwide,
which would be included in an electronic database of all primary and middle
schools.

She said the government would pay for safety upgrades
for schools in areas prone to quakes or geological disasters.

The Sichuan government announced Thursday that 5,335
students had been confirmed killed or missing after an 8.0-magnitude earthquake
hit the populous southwestern province on May 12 last year.

Laws passed shortly thereafter meant that public
buildings such as schools and hospitals were required to withstand quakes of at
least 8.0 magnitude. The revised laws took effect this May 1.