The number of children having accidents in elementary schools has shot up in the last 10 years, causing concern among civic groups, parents and teachers.
On the eve of the new school semester, the Jing-chuan Children's Safety Cultural Foundation yesterday highlighted the rising number of accidents in elementary schools.
The group said that, according to media reports, 259 children have been injured or killed at school in the last 10 years. However, Xinghua Elementary School recorded 3,405 children entering the school health center because of injuries or other illnesses in the past school year alone.
"Although this includes non-injury-related sicknesses, it is still a very high number," said Yeh Kuo-hui (葉國輝), the school's principal.
"Such a high number is a shocking contrast to the 259 injuries over 10 years reported by the media," he said.
The discrepancy in figures raised concerns that schools are not dealing appropriately with accidents on their premises.
The foundation called for periodic inspections of schools' infrastructural safety, as well as the provision of adequate safety education for children.
"We never know if tomorrow would come before an accident or if an accident would come before tomorrow," said Huang Chung-cheng (黃崇城), president of Newton Education and Publishing Corp, quoting the Dalai Lama.
"We need to teach our children to respect others, but also to protect themselves," said Huang, whose own child survived the Chien-kang Kindergarten school-bus fire that killed 23 children more than thirteen years ago.
The foundation aims at establishing an inspection and education list to ensure a safe school environment.
The list will include items such as ensuring the safety of playground equipment, having safe bookshelves in the library and making sure that desks are well-arranged in classrooms.
Parents should also remind their children not to climb through windows or over railings and not to play potentially harmful practical jokes on their classmates, the foundation said.
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