KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) — Prime Minister Andrew Holness says the significant drop in violence in schools has resulted from the safety and security initiative that he implemented for schools.

According to the prime minister, the Security and Safety in Schools Programme, which was implemented while he was minister of education, has provided the institutions with the capacity to tackle social ills, and the successes are now being reaped.

He said between 2012 and 2013, 915 fights were reported, and in 2014-2015, it was reduced to 786, a 14 per cent reduction. Some 1,876 weapons were found in schools for the similar period, and that went down to 987, a 17 per cent decrease.

Holness was delivering the keynote address at a Security and Ethics Conference, organised by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, and the Ministry of National Security, today (June 14), at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel, in New Kingston.

The prime minister said thefts were reduced from 160 in 2012/2013 to 64 in 2014/2015, a 64 per cent reduction.

“This figure was usually very high when there was not a policy regulating the use of cellular phones in schools,” Mr. Holness noted, adding that robberies were also down 84 per cent during the review period.

The prime minister said he was “heartened” by the 52 per cent reduction in wounding.

The safety and security programme facilitated the posts of Deans of Discipline and other personnel to curb antisocial behaviour in schools.

“The creation of those posts helped significantly to ease the burden off teachers, who had to play that role,” he told the audience, noting that with effective coordination of the programme, the schools are now better able to deal with the issue.