More funding urged for school security

Schools say they are struggling to find enough money to improve their security measures, including the hiring of guards, following a series of brutal and even deadly attacks on children by intruders.

A government directive in January instructed schools and kindergartens to hire at least one full-time guard to handle any potential threats.

In 2011, the Chinese government invested 1.68 trillion yuan ($270 billion) in education, 25 percent more than the previous year.

In December, Wu Guosheng, director of the Department of Finance at the Ministry of Education, published a speech on the ministry's website that urged schools to improve their financing and accounting systems.

But in January, top law enforcement officials announced the security guard requirement, without specifying who must cover the cost, People's Daily reported.

The requirement came amid a campaign to improve campus security in light of the most recent attack, in which a principal and student were killed at a primary school in Shangmei township in Hunan province.

Shi Xuehua, a professor of politics at Beijing Normal University and a member of a social safety consulting committee at the Ministry of Education, called on the government to increase spending on campus safety, especially in rural areas.

"These improvements need money, including funding for equipment and training," Shi said.