The practice of poorly funded schools in rural China operating small enterprises to raise badly needed funds is not unusual.
It is not always fireworks that are at the centre of the illegal production lines. Toys and small handicrafts are made by students across China to bring in extra money so that schools remain open. In extreme cases there have been reports of children working in mines.
Yesterday's tragedy is not the first in relation to highly dangerous firework production. Fatal fireworks explosions are frequent in China at both legal and illegal factories.
Last December in Hanan province in South China eight children were reported to have died in a school fire in similar circumstances.
A huge blast occurred at a fireworks factory in the southern province of Guangdong in July, leaving 75 people dead. Following this incident, President Jiang Zemin called for a crackdown over safety.
In March 2000, an explosion at a huge illegal firecracker factory in Pingxiang city in Jiangxi Province killed 33 people. And last August, another explosion of firework ingredients stored illegally in an apartment killed 21.
The use of cheap, illegally made fireworks is a big problem in China. Over the recent Chinese New Year festivities, 20 people were reported to have been killed in separate firework accidents.
With the decentralisation of China's education system in recent years, a huge imbalance has been created in the standard of services provided by schools. The poorer provinces in the west lose out to the wealthier provinces in the east.