A total of 1,700 specially trained security guards went on duty in the Panyu district of Guangzhou on Monday, to protect the 639 schools and kindergartens in the district following a spate of vicious attacks on school children across the country.

Students of a primary school in Panyu of Guangzhou, Guangdong province, exit the campus gate guarded by a number of security personnel.

With helicopters and special police standing by if an emergency arises, the heavily-armed guards have been selected from the ranks of professional security guards across the district to supplement the police in protecting school children, according to the Panyu police bureau.

Each of them has at least one year of experience as a security guard. Most of them have also previously guarded schools and, as a group, they have received one week of special training for their new assignments.

About 1,400 guards have been posted at schools and kindergartens in the district, while the other 300 are on duty at police offices to help patrol neighboring vicinities, said bureau chief Li Jiecai.

The guards are required to be at the school gates when students enter and exit the buildings, as well as patrol around the school grounds at other times.

An additional 600 school security guards are to be recruited in Panyu, where more than 60 million yuan (US$8.78 million) has annually been budgeted for the program.

Along with surveillance cameras, the Panyu police are installing a network of alarms on campuses so that the bureau will immediately be notified of an emergency.

Further protective measures include training teachers how to deal with breaches in security and any other emergency situations.

Since a number of the competition and training venues for the upcoming Asian Games are located at schools in Panyu, the guards will also help protect athletes participating in the Games.

Meanwhile, 384 security guards had already been posted at 90 schools and kindergartens in the Nansha district of Guangzhou, the first special force in the city to have been assigned the duty of protecting school children.