beijing's smog may be thick, but parents say the bureaucracy is impenetrable - top air purifiers

It was a one-
Air pollution first, then bureaucracy.
Like many Beijing residents, Zhang Sarah took precautions at home to protect herself and two children from the city's notorious air pollution. Yet her 7-year-
The son's public primary school, Yunhe Primary School, has not installed air purifiers.
A buzzing square machine common in expensive private schools in the city
Leaving students with no choice but to breathe their eyes
Water toxic air
Zhang, 39, recently offered several air purifiers to the school free of charge with other parents.
However, the school administrators refused, and their reason was
The government has not approved the use of air purifiers
Led her to a rabbit hole. We called [local]
"The Board of Education and the Ministry of Education, we got a different answer from everyone who picked up the phone," said Zhang, 39 . ".
"Some people say that there is no air purifier in the classroom that is considered acceptable, and some say we should write down suggestions and they will report to the superior.
But basically everyone told us that it is impossible to install.
"In recent memory, December is one of the most polluted months in Beijing --
Authorities have announced two "red alert" smoke warnings, forcing schools around the city to close.
Join the conversation on Facebook> However, the city is shrouded in toxic smoke even on normal days, and many public schools do not have air purifiers installed --
Many of them have been shown to improve indoor air quality.
This has angered parents and highlighted some of the immediate effects of the Chinese bureaucracy's inability to cope with the country's environmental crisis.
A representative who contacted the city's official school committee by phone on Monday said the committee did not "encourage" schools to accept air purifiers from their parents.
"We encourage schools to stop classes on heavy pollution days," she said . ".
"We are working with experts from the Ministry of Education and Tsinghua University to study the types of air purifiers that are suitable for schools and we will propose a city --
"The school's extensive plan for air purification," she said . ".
"It's not just a job for the Ministry of Education --
It also involves the State Administration of production safety and the Ministry of Environmental Protection.
"She did not give a schedule for the planned implementation and she hung up before giving her name.
Experts say China's air pollution has caused huge losses to human health.
According to a 2013 study in the British medical journal the Lancet, 350,000 to 500,000 people die prematurely each year due to smog in China.
Many government departments have installed air purifiers in their offices. . . .
Government officials are clearly more important than children.
"The air quality in the country has become so bad that many government departments have installed air purifiers in their offices --
All of this is paid with taxpayers' money, "said a commentary on Sunday in the state --
Run the Global Times.
"Government officials are obviously more important than children.
Few public schools in China are equipped with aviation equipment
Although public schools are funded by taxpayers, machines are purified. "A 30-year-
Old staff in a state
State-owned enterprises say she's 18-year-
There is no air purifier installed in the old school.
After a recent smog attack, she decided to quickly transfer her family to Hainan, an island in southern China.
Newsletter: from The Times Editor Davan Maharaj> "smog weather in Beijing is so common --
"This happens at least once or twice a week," the woman said, revealing only her surname Wang so she can criticize the government without fear of official retaliation.
"They can't let students stay at home every week indefinitely.
Many parents are working. time —
To take care of the children, they can't work from home once or twice a week.
"The pollution is so serious that life in this city is almost impossible to live in. " she added.
"This is such a huge problem that the government has not solved --
So what kind of problems do the government have to solve here?