Students perform weapon drills during a school break at an elementary school in Handan, Hebei province, November 17, 2021. [Photo/IC]
Every primary and secondary school in China should have at least one part-time law enforcement deputy director who can handle law-related matters and better protect children, a new guideline said Thursday.
The directive, issued by the Ministry of Education and approved by the Supreme People’s Court, the Supreme People’s Procuratorate and the Ministries of Public Security and Justice, will take effect on May 1.
Courts, procuratorates and public security and justice authorities should recommend and appoint officials to serve as deputy school principals.
Their main responsibilities will include providing legal education, helping schools formulate policies to protect the rights and interests of students, managing security, preventing juvenile delinquency and imposing sanctions on students who misbehave seriously. .
Civil servants must have at least three years of legal experience and undergo special training before assuming the duties.
Deng Chuanhuai, director of the policy and regulation department of the Ministry of Education, said the practice of hiring law enforcement officials as deputy directors started in 2003 and officials played a important role in strengthening the protection of the legal rights of students and teachers. , promoting legal education in schools and securing school campuses. There were 235,000 primary and secondary schools in China last year.
The new directive aims to address some shortcomings in the policy, such as some deputy legal directors not fulfilling their duties, he said.
The ministry will prioritize the appointment of legal assistant directors to schools in remote or rural areas and disadvantaged schools in cities, he said.
Wang Daquan, vice principal of the department, said vice principals will also play an important role in preventing and controlling bullying by teaching related laws and regulations, immediately dealing with incidents, and educating and rectifying students who intimidate.
Jiang Jihai, an official with the Supreme People’s Court, said more than 13,800 judges in more than 2,300 courts have served as deputy principals in more than 15,000 primary and secondary schools.
Depending on the age of the students, they have developed lessons to prevent school bullying, sexual assault, fraud and drug use, he said.
Li Feng, an official with the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, said nearly 40,000 prosecutors had served as deputy principals in 77,000 primary and secondary schools by the end of September.
He said Zhang Jun, procurator general of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, taught law classes at Beijing No. 2 Middle School for four consecutive years, attended by students and teachers in Beijing’s 16 districts.
Liao Qi, an official with the Ministry of Public Security, said more than 300,000 police officers working as deputy principals have carried out activities to teach students how to prevent bullying, violence, human trafficking, sexual assault and road accidents.
