CHONGQING -- Authorities in southwest China's Chongqing municipality have launched a pre-employment information inquiry system to prevent crimes among the teaching faculty.

According to the authorities, all kindergartens, primary schools, middle schools, and higher-education institutions in Chongqing are required to check the crime-related information of the teachers, administrative staff and support crew in the system before being employed. Anyone with a criminal record, especially those with sexual abuse records, should not be recruited.

The system is the first of its kind on the provincial-level. In Chongqing, all criminal cases handled by prosecution organs since April 2013 can be found in the system.

Any of the above organizations that fail to obtain the information of its faculty will face punishments, according to local educational authorities.