A bus carrying 47 people overturned in Chengmai county, Hainan province, on April 10, killing eight school students. But the accident should not stop local authorities from encouraging schools to organize spring outings and taking measures to ensure students' safety, says an article in Beijing News. Excerpts:

It is indeed tragic for a spring outing to end in a deadly accident. Since the private school had reportedly not informed the local authorities about the spring outing, local education officials reiterated that schools must strictly report to the local education departments in advance about such outings. Some local education departments have even suspended or canceled group outings because of safety concerns.

Informing local authorities about school picnics may guarantee students' safety to a certain extent. But the reporting and approval mechanism is designed to lay the responsibility on schools to prepare safety plans. Doesn't this mean local authorities are neglecting the fact that schools alone cannot guarantee students' safety during picnics and field trips?

Local authorities need to improve services by laying stress on organizing safe outings rather than insisting that schools strictly follow the reporting system. Local education, transportation, meteorology, health and tourism sectors should offer schools better services to guarantee students' safety during group outings.

The last thing people want to see or hear about is an accident during a students' spring outing. So education and school authorities should set their safety bars higher instead of canceling or suspending students' outings and depriving them of the few chances they get to spend out in the open. If government departments and schools work jointly, making students' outings safe will not be a difficult task.

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(China Daily 04/17/2014 page9)