Not even the series of powerful blasts in Tianjin could prevent schools in the surrounding community from opening as scheduled, but precautions were taken and safety measures were applied.
As schools in the major port city opened on Aug. 31, both the local government and school officials ensured the safety of the students, according to CCTV News.
Prior to the start of a new school year, repair works were done on those schools damaged by the explosions. Building inspectors were hired to assess the condition of the structures.
Public areas were cleaned and disinfected. The city government especially employed workers to do these tasks.
The quality of air outside the blast zone was also checked. Pollutants present in the air didn’t reach an excessive level.
Li Yan, the school principal of Teda No.1 Primary School, told Xinhua that school officials did “a lot of work” to guarantee that their facilities are safe. Parents were given a tour around the school.
Schools in other parts of the country likewise made efforts to ensure the safety of their incoming students, reported Shanghai Daily.
A group of firefighters visited a school in Changsha in Hunan Province. They showed middle-school students how to properly use fire extinguishers.
Together with some police officers, educational officials in Shaanxi Province inspected schools for 10 long days.
School administrators in Inner Mongolia had the electrical installations and pipelines of their respective schools checked.
Attention to passenger limit on school buses was also revived. School bus drivers who will be found guilty of overloading can be fined and detained.
A series of explosions happened in Tianjin port, with the first one taking place on Aug. 12. It started from a burning warehouse of Ruihai Logistics (Tianjin Dongjiang Port Ruihai International Logistics).
The warehouse, according to media reports, contained different kinds of flammable chemicals.