A secondary vocational school in Dandong, Liaoning Province, was fined for substandard classroom lighting

Recently, a secondary vocational school in Dandong, Liaoning Province, was given an administrative penalty of a "warning" by the health and medical authorities for substandard classroom lighting.

Reporters learned that the school was penalized for substandard lighting in three classrooms.

Staff from the Dandong Municipal Education Bureau stated that they are currently urging the school to make corrections.

As the primary source of information for students in class, the blackboard must be clearly and comfortably displayed. Therefore, creating a positive classroom lighting environment is crucial. Blackboard lighting is also a crucial component of classroom lighting, and its quality directly impacts students' vision.

Publicly available online information indicates that Dandong Aishuang Secondary Vocational and Technical School is a full-time secondary vocational and technical school offering eleven majors, including tourism services and management, computer application and maintenance, beauty and hairdressing, makeup and image design, mechatronics, and civil aviation ground handling and highway transportation services. The school enrolls over 500 students annually.

On April 3rd, the Dandong Municipal Health Commission's website published a public notice of administrative penalties against Dandong Aishuang Secondary Vocational and Technical School for failing to meet national health standards for its environmental sanitation and teaching facilities.

The notice stated that during an on-site inspection of the school on March 27, 2025, the Dandong Municipal Health Commission, the law enforcement agency, discovered that the light tubes in classrooms 203, 204, and 205 on the second floor were arranged parallel to the blackboard, indicating non-controlled lighting, and that these classrooms lacked blackboard lighting.

The law enforcement agency, acting in accordance with the "Regulations on School Hygiene Work," Article 6, Paragraph 1, stipulates that "the environmental quality of school teaching buildings, ambient noise, indoor microclimate, daylighting, lighting, and the arrangement of blackboards, desks, and chairs shall comply with relevant national standards." The law enforcement agency imposed an administrative penalty of a warning on the school, pursuant to Article 33 of the regulations.

The reporter noted that the national standard for classroom lighting is the "Standard for Daylighting and Lighting Hygiene in Primary and Secondary School Classrooms," which sets clear requirements for multiple parameters such as brightness, color temperature, and height of classroom light sources. It specifically states, "Light tubes should be arranged with their long axis perpendicular to the blackboard. In tiered classrooms, front-row lights should not create direct glare for students in the back rows."

Health experts point out that classroom lighting design is closely linked to adolescent vision health and warrants significant attention. To curb the prevalence of myopia among adolescents, early prevention is crucial. Creating a positive classroom lighting environment is crucial, ensuring that various indicators such as illuminance, uniformity, glare control, color temperature, color rendering, and flicker meet the needs of learning and physical and mental health, thereby effectively curbing the rise in myopia rates among students. To provide children with a healthy and comfortable learning environment, schools must select classroom lighting designs and equipment that meet regulatory requirements.

The reporter contacted the Dandong Municipal Education Bureau, and staff informed them that they were aware of the administrative penalty imposed on the school and were currently urging the school to make corrections.