At a middle school ceremony in Hunan province, students waited in snow for about an hour to welcome leaders. This has drawn criticism from parents and netizens, says an article on xinhuanet.com. Excerpts:

Authorities of a middle school in Hunan province have admitted that they should not have made students stand in the snow to welcome leaders. But they have asked people to take a "tolerant view" of the incident. Do the school authorities expect the public to be indifferent to their mistake? Or do they want people to acquiesce in their decision?

As a place to educate and impart knowledge to children, a school should focus on students and teachers, not leaders. Therefore, any activity, including a ceremony, should revolve around them.

Reality, however, runs counter to the true concept of education in some schools.

Such phenomena are essentially the product of officials' awry mindset that official ranks matter most even in education circles. No wonder, some school officials readily sacrifice students' health and well-being to please their supervisors.

Students should be spared such man-made suffering. Hardships of life are different and have to be overcome by students as they venture into the real world. But they should not be subjected to such avoidable suffering.

There is no reason why some officials should choose to sacrifice other people's health and safety to satisfy their own vanity.