Gyeonggi Province Superintendent Lim Tae-hee: "Install Sprinklers in All Temporary School Buildings"

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Jung Jun-sung] The Gyeonggi Province Office of Education has decided to install sprinklers in all temporary school buildings (modular classrooms) in the province by the first half of next year.

Superintendent Lim Tae-hee visited the temporary school building at Namyang High School in Hwaseong on the 9th to inspect fire and safety facilities and instructed that "sprinkler installation in all temporary school buildings in the province should be promoted swiftly so there are no blind spots in student safety."

Namyang High School in Hwaseong is the first school in Gyeonggi Province to install temporary school buildings and currently operates two buildings, one of which, installed on September 1st, is equipped with sprinklers.

However, since temporary school buildings are temporary structures not subject to the same fire safety installation standards as regular schools, there has been significant concern and anxiety among students and parents living in temporary school buildings about safety accidents.

Accordingly, the Provincial Office of Education plans to invest 3.1 billion won to prevent student safety accidents and alleviate student and parent concerns, completing sprinkler installation in all temporary school buildings in the province by the first half of next year.

The target temporary school buildings total 24 buildings (13 elementary, 9 middle, 2 high schools), excluding 2 buildings with sprinklers already installed and 3 buildings scheduled for lease termination out of the total 29 temporary school buildings.

On this day, Superintendent Lim inspected the sprinklers installed in Namyang High School's temporary building, seismic and fire-resistant insulation performance, fire doors, and evacuation routes in case of fire, and met with on-site staff and related officials to listen to field opinions and communicate.

During this visit, Superintendent Lim stated, "For matters related to student safety, measures must be taken to the point of seeming excessive in order to prevent accidents," and added, "I will thoroughly inspect the safety conditions of temporary school buildings and reflect and improve upon field opinions so that students can feel at ease and engage in school life with confidence."