Photo: IC

Following an inspection in East China's Jiangxi Province, 186 of 190,000 school faculty members were found to be holding criminal records and they have been fired as of June, the Jiangxi Province People's Procuratorate revealed on Tuesday. 

The inspection, jointly conducted by the local procuratorate department, education department and public security department, was a further step to prevent sexual assault on campus and strengthen prevention at the source of crimes targeting juveniles in China. 

Statistics show that between 2017 and 2019, criminals prosecuted across China for rape, forced molestation or molestation against children amounted to 10,603, 13,445 and 19,338, respectively, accounting for 22.3 percent, 26.5 percent and 30.7 percent of the total number of crimes against minors prosecuted those years, respectively. 

In August 2020, several departments issued guidelines on establishing a system for inquiry about information on sexual assault offenses for admission of school faculty to tackle the severe situation of sexual assault crimes against minors on campus. 

By carrying out the screening of risks and hidden dangers on school employees, the staff with relevant criminal records and psychological disorder are prohibited from engaging in school-related work, firmly keeping the "big bad wolves" out of campuses, an official from the Jiangxi Province People's Procuratorate told the media. 

Besides Jiangxi, Southwest China's Guizhou Province, Chongqing Municipality and East China's Shanghai have also already started piloting their recruitment inquiry systems to block sex offenders from holding child-related jobs. 

A motion suggesting the creation of a nationwide database on child sexual assault offenders, to ensure they would be banned from holding positions related to minors, became one of the most hotly discussed topics during the two sessions in 2020. 

National People's Congress (NPC) deputy Liu Xiya from Chongqing, who put forward the motion, suggested that a database with records of the criminals' names, photos, and case details should be established for reference by kindergartens, primary and middle schools, cram schools, and training schools where offenders have easy access to minors as a result of their jobs. 

Meanwhile, an inter-provincial and inter-regional database would also prevent sex offenders from relocating and committing sexual offenses in other parts in China. 

Global Times