Guideline: Follow legal procedures for school accident compensation

People who make a scene at schools to vent grievances and agitate for quicker and better compensation after accidents involving students will be held accountable, the Ministry of Education and four other departments said on Tuesday.

A joint guideline issued by the five departments said schools should not rush to compensate the parents of students injured or killed in such accidents, and should wait until the responsibility of each party is investigated and clarified by law enforcement authorities.

Government officials, organizations or individuals should not interfere in dispute settlement procedures to quiet down the situation or make the school shoulder more responsibility, the guideline said.

The guideline listed many types of disruptive behavior by people making scenes at schools, including: beatings; damaging or occupying school facilities; setting up barricades around schools; putting up defamatory posters; playing funeral music; pouring sewage around schools; cutting electricity and water supplies; blocking school gates; placing a student’s corpse at school; preventing students and teachers from leaving school; stalking, intimidating and insulting students and teachers; and bringing hazardous materials to school.

Public security authorities should hold such people to account, with those who commit crimes — especially those who incite others to make a bigger scene at school — to face harsher punishment, the guideline said.