Key stakeholders on August 6, 2019 convened to finalize a National School Safety Policy that will guide the country’s educational institutions in preparing for and responding to all hazards.
The consultation – which commenced this morning at Frenches House, will pool together stakeholders from various government ministries, the National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO), the National Red Cross, Principals Associations, Parent Teachers Associations and the Police Service.
Minister of Education, National Reconciliation and Information – St. Clair Prince, has emphasized that the Ministry of Education is being proactive in building the resilience of the education sector to disasters.
Minister Prince said prior to the start of the new school year, they want to ensure that they have the mechanisms in place to govern and promote best practices around the three pillars of school safety, safe learning facilities, school disaster management, disaster risk reduction and resilience education.
The activity is being funded by the Africa, Caribbean and Pacific – European Union Natural Disaster Reduction Programme, which is managed by the Global Facility for Disaster Risk Reduction.
The Ministry of Education oversees 125 early childhood centres, 68 primary schools, three special needs schools, 27 secondary schools, four technical centres and four divisions of the community college.
