ST JAMES, Jamaica – The Ministry of Education and Youth is taking significant steps to ensure the safety and security of students and staff in schools across Jamaica, particularly in the area of natural disasters such as hurricanes and flash-floods.

Portfolio Minister Fayval Williams, provided details in an address during the Caribbean Safe School Initiative (CSSI) Virtual Pre-Ministerial Forum, on Tuesday, March 12.

“I’m happy to report that we have well-developed systems, policies and guidelines during these natural disasters for students, teachers and parents, and so there is also a level of obedience to these policies and directives that we have,” Williams stated.

Additionally, she indicated that the ministry has engaged architectural students from a tertiary institution to assess the structural integrity of school buildings. This assessment categorises buildings as fair, good or unsatisfactory.

Williams noted that the ministry is now focused on improving the structural integrity of schools in the unsatisfactory category, ensuring safer learning environments for students.

She also highlighted that there is a safety and security entity within the education sector that is responsible for managing various threats, including bomb threats.

“We have to ensure that all students are safe and secure on the school compound, but not only that, we’ve extended it to look at their safety and security while they’re traversing the roadways to school and back home,” Williams explained.

“We’ve done studies that we’re using to guide the many policies that we have, the directives and guidelines that we put out, and we know that transportation ranks high in terms of just safety and security measures that we need to have in place for our students,” she added.

In the meantime, she pointed out that the ministry is making efforts to install cameras, fencing, metal detectors, and implement random searches within schools.

Moreover, the education sector has integrated key professionals such as deans of discipline, guidance counsellors, school nurses, and social workers into a unified unit within schools to effectively intervene on behalf of students.

The CSSI aims to advance safety in Caribbean schools. It is the regional mechanism for replicating the nexus between education and resilience, and for ensuring coordination in the region.

The forum is the flagship biennial meeting of ministers of education from across the region, disaster-risk-reduction practitioners and international and regional stakeholders to explore and identify policy opportunities and gaps for the education sector resilience and their regional coordination.

-JIS