Several ministry-level departments, including those responsible for education, commerce and emergency management, recently responded to issues of public concern.

Public comment sought on school discipline rules

The Ministry of Education published draft regulations on the ways primary and middle school teachers can discipline students on Nov 22 and invited members of the public to give their opinions about them.

The purpose of the regulations, the draft says, is to make sure teachers fulfill their duties to teach and manage students, regulate the ways they fulfill such duties, safeguard their dignity and promote the healthy development of students.

Teachers have a right to apply proper discipline to students who violate school codes or the law, or engage in other behavior that hampers teaching activities, according to the draft.

Schools and government departments in charge of educational affairs should support teachers in properly exercising that right, while stopping them from violating students' lawful rights.

The purpose of disciplinary actions should be to help students improve themselves. Teachers should decide the proper ways to discipline students, carry them out according to law, and must ensure students' safety.

The disciplinary actions teachers are allowed to apply to students who have engaged in minor violations include identifying them in public and criticizing them.

Disciplines for serious violations include suspending students from extracurricular activities, having them take a "time out" at school, and suspending them from classes for no more than a week.

The draft also lays out the kinds of behavior teachers are forbidden to engage in. They include hitting or pricking students and other ways of inflicting physical pain, abusing students with words, discriminating against them, and punishing a whole class if some students have committed violations.

Nationwide fire prevention campaign launched

The State Council's Office of the Production Safety Commission has issued a notice ordering a nationwide fire prevention campaign until March, the Ministry of Emergency Management said on Nov 18.

The office has asked local authorities to examine labor intensive companies, entertainment venues, hotels, high-rise buildings, old people's homes and other places that need heightened vigilance against fire risks, and have them rectify any problems found.

They should also enhance examination of large commercial complexes, museums and cultural relics to eliminate such risks.

Small companies and family workshops are also targets of the campaign.
The authorities should improve public knowledge about preventing and escaping from fires, and enhance the fire safety training of people in risky businesses, according to the notice.

Fire risks are heightened in winter and spring, the ministry said.
Over the past decade, there were 42.4 percent more fires in winter and spring than in summer and autumn, and winter and spring fires have killed about 70 percent more people than fires in summer and autumn, it said.

Ministries release latest market access negative list

The National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Commerce have issued the latest version of the national market access negative list.

In a notice released online on Nov 22, the ministries asked governments of all provinces and all central government departments to implement the list earnestly and not set up their own lists.

All kinds of market entities have the right to enter businesses not on the list equally and according to law, the ministries said, and the authorities must not require them to apply for administrative approval to operate such businesses.

For businesses on the negative list, the authorities should provide clear information to market entities, including the procedures they need to go through to get approval for running such businesses.

The authorities should follow market feedback closely, detect and remove unreasonable restrictions on market access and create a stable, fair, transparent and predictable business environment, the ministries said, urging them to come up with advice to improve the market access negative list system.