PHOTO: Reuters
A massive breach of the standard operating procedures (SOPs) was observed by the interior department during the audit which was promptly communicated to the higher authorities including the education and police departments along with regional commissioner offices.
Owing to the security alert in Punjab, as many as 129 schools were audited in Lahore, 490 in Sheikhupura, 1,025 in Gujranwala, 465 in Rawalpindi, 360 in Faisalabad, 457 in Sargodha, 415 in Sahiwal, 745 in Multan, 450 in Dera Ghazi Khan and 313 schools in Bahawalnagar.
Despite three consecutive security audits conducted by the interior department in September, October and November, no progress was made by the school management or the provincial education department to improve the situation.
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The latest audit states that 1,069 educational institutions, in 10 districts of the province, did not even have walls around the academic block. Whereas, security posts around the institutions and searchlights near hostels were absent too. Guards of about 40 schools carried non-functional firearms, 254 institutions had no closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras, whereas 4,210 schools had no walkthrough gates and 12 schools did not have a metal detector.
The inspection revealed that about 4,827 schools lacked scanners while 1,626 schools were without bunkers at the entrance. In 263 schools, registers to keep a record of the visitors was not found and 854 schools had no mechanism to physically search visitors before allowing them inside the school premises.
The report showed that 2,013 schools had no additional armed security guards, 586 did not have sentry units, 500 lacked emergency exits and only 1,871 schools conducted security training for their staff.
A total of 454 schools are operating without an emergency plan while a wireless security system has not been installed in 3,333 schools. As many as 3,844 schools do not have walkie-talkies and the staff of 536 schools were not even informed about the security situation in the province.
Moreover, the audit conducted by the special branch of the interior department showed that schools neither have any control room nor use panic buttons to deal with any security risk. The police are also not patrolling the schools.
Audit shows worrying decrease in school security
In the past, the interior department had taken several security measures including the development of special security SOPs for students. Sources told The Express Tribune that the department also alerted all the schools so that they can take necessary measures to ward off any untoward incident.
However, many public schools complained during a survey that they did not receive any funds from the education department to ensure security measures on campus.
On the other hand, private schools are charging an additional fee from students to ensure proper security of the premises.
The flawed security arrangements highlighted in the audit report have raised many questions on the priorities of the concerned authorities. There is an urgent need for foolproof security arrangements in schools in accordance with the SOPs of the interior department so that the students can continue their academic journey without fear.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 19th, 2019.
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