A stampede at a primary school in Puyang county, Central China’s Henan province, on Wednesday morning resulted in the death of one student, and left more than 20 pupils injured. Beijing News commented on Thursday:
上个星期三上午,在中国中部河南省濮阳市一所小学发生的踩踏事件导致了1名学生死亡,20多名学生受伤,据《新京报》星期四报道。
The principal of the primary school was removed hours after the incident, which happened at about 8:30 am as students rushed to the toilet during a 10-minute break, according to reports. The students were reportedly preparing for their monthly examinations scheduled later in the morning.
据报道,早上8:30,学生们在课间休息十分钟集体去上厕所,发生了此悲剧,之后数小时内,该小学校长被罢免。而据说这些学生当天早上要进行月考。
It is laudable that the school and local officials reacted quickly to the tragedy by sending the injured to hospital and launching a thorough investigation into the cause of the tragedy. But there are questions that need to be answered now.
校方和当地政府对该事件反应迅速,第一时间将受伤学生送往医院救治,并对悲剧起因进行彻查,这是值得赞赏的。然而,仍有一些问题需要答复。
First of all: Why did the school still set monthly tests, which apparently contradicts the central government’s efforts to reduce the burden on students? The Ministry of Education has issued a guideline that explicitly forbids elementary and middle schools from imposing excessive tests on students.
第一,为什么学校还要进行月考?这显然违背了中央对学生减负所做的努力。教育部已发布了指导文件禁止中小学组织过多的考试。
However, pupils at the school have to not only take the usual mid-term and final examinations, but also monthly tests.
可是,这所学校的学生不仅要进行常规的期中、期末考试,还有月考。
Insufficient school facilities also had a lot to do with the stampede. Home to more than 1,700 students, the Puyang No 3 Experimental Primary School simply does not have enough toilets for them. Did the school over-enroll students or misappropriate money allocated for its facilities?
学校基础设施不完善也是造成这个悲剧的原因之一。濮阳县第三实验小学共有1700余名学生,却没有足够的厕所。是学校学生超编,还是原本用于这些设施的资金被挪用?
Although educational authorities at all levels have repeatedly called on schools to "provide a safe environment for students" and teach the children what to do in an emergency, it seems that the school did not carry out this instruction. Nor have the staff at the school been instructed how to evacuate students in an emergency. No adults were there to guide the crowd of students as they rushed to classrooms when the bell was about to ring.
虽然各级教育部门一再呼吁学校“为学生提供一个安全的环境”,并教孩子们如何应对紧急情况,学校似乎没有执行该指令,学校员工也不知如何在紧急情况下疏散学生。当钟声响起、学生都冲向教室时,没有成人在现场指导。
The absence of an accountability mechanism and the security-related education has led to the death of one student. Had preemptive measures been taken and security checks conducted, the tragedy would probably not have happened.
缺乏问责机制及相关安全教育,导致了这个孩子的离去。如果提前做好预警和安全检查,这个悲剧很可能就不会发生。