County allocates 8m yuan for school safety

A total of 8 million yuan ($1.27 million) is being allocated by Guangshan county in Central China's Henan province to address safety in schools following a knife rampage this month in which 23 students were injured.

An 85-year-old woman was also wounded in the attack at a village elementary school in the county on Dec 14.

The budget will be used to introduce 486 safeguards and safety equipment for all schools in the county, the 21st Century Business Herald reported.

However, after the announcement critics questioned the use of a central government budget in 2010, the paper reported. That year, the central authorities allocated 3.89 billion yuan to subsidize safety equipment in schools after a series of injures at schools in Fujian and Guangdong provinces.

An official in charge of education in Honghu city, Hubei province, was quoted by the paper as saying the 3.89 billion budget was far from sufficient to ensure safety in schools.

"Our city got only 1.88 million yuan from the budget, which can only be used in fixing up the walls and gates of schools. No money is available to hire security staff," the official said.