Cold Hebei schools must be warmed up: Authorities

The Ministry of Education demanded “immediate” action on Wednesday to ensure school classrooms are warm enough after media reports of delayed heating supplies in North China's Hebei province resulted in cold weather-related injuries to some students.

China Youth Daily reported on Tuesday that the heating supply in some rural primary schools in Hebei’s Quyang county was delayed, forcing students to have classes in the sun to keep warm.

Some primary school students stood to read books and some wrote using stools as a desk, while they kneeled or sat on the ground, as a video from the newspaper shows.

“We felt pain in our hearts for the children after reading the report and worry very much about them,” ministry spokeswoman Xu Mei said at a news conference in Beijing.

She said the ministry has attached great importance to the issue, and senior officials have demanded “practical” and “efficient” measures to urge local authorities to immediately offer heating in these schools.

The State Council’s Office of Education Steering Committee handed notifications to relevant provinces to supervise the handling of the issue and demanded these provinces ensure normal school operations, she said.

“When it comes to children, nothing is trivial,” she emphasized.