Exam Ethics Marshal International (EEMI), an NGO, has urged the Federal Government to develop safe school national policy, to ensure the safety of pupils and students in schools.
Mr Ike Onyechere, the Chairman of the NGO, made the call during the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum on Sunday in Abuja.
Onyechere also said that the policy, when formulated, should be integrated into the educational policy so that intending students would read it and know the safety tips.
“We have been saying for some time that there is need for government to develop what is called a safe school national policy.
“The safety and security situation in the country has been such that you can develop a safe school national policy to be integrated into the national education policy, so that people that are going to start school should know some of the things they must do, drawing from the lessons of what has happened.
“ In our own little way, we try to build capacity; we have done a lot of capacity training for private schools; brought the universities together to talk to them.
“Even when you are getting security people, there are criteria on the people you must get; Civil Defence has a way of licensing them and you will also train them.
“Proprietors, principals, teachers — you must look at people you employ in your schools, because some criminals infiltrate schools in terms of employment.
“The driver you will get, the people you will get as security men; if it is a school that is boarding, all those employees, before you get them, you must do some very serious screening, because most of the crimes that have been committed there are always insiders.’’
He, however, underscored the need for the school managements to conduct proper screening of their intending employees including their age, especially the security men, before engaging them.
He further advised that school proprietors should ensure that the location of their schools was safe for the pupils/students, adding that there should be a perimeter fence at the school.
Besides these, Onyechere stressed the need for collaboration among law enforcement agencies, to secure the lives of children in schools.
He said that in 2010, when the issue of kidnapping of students became rife, his organisation conducted a survey and discovered that educational institutions were becoming easy targets.
“We wrote a letter to the Presidency and asked for permission to collaborate with some of the law enforcement agencies to develop a programme for safe schools.
“We formed a coalition which comprised the Police, Civil Defence, Ministry of Police Affairs, Police Service Commission, Federal Fire Service and National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).
According to him, the coalition worked on a project known as Safe School Empowerment and developed a Safe School Manual which was completed and launched in December 2015.
He said that in the Safe School Manual, there were tips on how to identify dangers around the school premises and how to respond to such situations.
EEMI, he said, was not only concerned about exam ethics but also focuses on other issues that promote national development. (NAN)
