Heed parents' call to better protect students from smog

The severity of the hazardous smog that has forced Beijing to close schools twice so far this month should justify local education authorities heeding the calls of parents for air purifiers and other facilities to be installed in classrooms.

The capital has issued two red alerts to galvanize all-out public efforts to reduce locally generated pollutant emissions, which have helped cut the level of pollutant emissions.

A preliminary assessment by the Ministry of Environmental Protection suggested that Beijing managed to cut the level of pollutants by 30 percent during the second red alert.