Schools Urged to Establish Safety, Security Committees

Uchechukwu Nnaike

The Head of the Training and Research Department, National Institute for Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA), Dr. Sunday Adegbesan, has called on schools to set up safety and security committees amid worsening insecurity.
He stated this at the opening ceremony of a three-day capacity-building workshop for pastoral caregivers of the South-West zone of federal unity colleges.
He said to reduce the negative effects of insecurity and COVID-19, school managers should be equipped with strategies to ensure that the school premises and the surrounding environment are free from vices such as weapons, drugs, and alcohol.
Adegbesan noted that the committees must comprise representatives of teachers, students, the Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs), community members and others.
Giving a breakdown of guidelines of emergency plans to create a safety, security and violence-free school environment at the school level, he added that the committees would also take responsibility for the safety agenda at the community and school levels.
He urged schools also to appoint school safety focal point teachers, school safety and security prefects, to anchor the operation of safety-related actions at the school levels as part of their routine.
“Each school should also provide the school safety focal point teacher with the necessary training to put the safety and security policies and guidelines into effect,” stated Adegbesan.
According to him, some security threats include terrorism, kidnapping, banditry, stealing and damaging school properties, encroachment of school land and escalated communal clashes.
He said the head of school and staff should take all necessary steps to ensure that a clean, safe and hygienic environment is provided to learners at all times.
In her remarks, the zonal Chairman, Dr. Tokumbo Yakubu-Oyinloye, said last year’s training focused on academics, targeted at improving students’ performance in six subjects.
Yakubu-Oyinloye, the principal of Queen’s College Lagos, the host institution, said the caregivers were non-teaching staff comprising those in the security, the clinic, catering, the guidance and counselling units, as well as coordinators of academic activities and year heads.
She noted that the Federal Ministry of Education frowned at bullying, fagging and violence.
Mr Andrew Agada, the Principal of King’s College Lagos, a participant, said the workshop positively impacted the schools’ general administration.