Too little, too late?: ‘Schools should raise boundary walls over 8ft’

K-P government has taken a series of steps in wake of the brazen APS massacre last year.

PESHAWAR:

Schools should raise boundary walls over 8 feet and fence them with barbed wire in order to prevent an organised assault similar to the Army Public School attack, Deputy District Education Officer Muhammad Azam Khan told The Express Tribune.

In a bid to boost security at educational institutions across the province, the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government has taken a series of steps in wake of the brazen APS massacre. Khan complained about the limited financial and human resources at the disposal of the department. However, he said the government has laid out standard operating procedures (SoP) for schools to upgrade their security arrangements themselves.

Self-administered security

The government has also made it obligatory for schools to register with the SOS Alert Service announced recently by Chief Minister Pervez Khattak.



Khan said through the Android vigilance application, school principals will be able to inform local police about a security situation through a mere tap on the phone screen. The security equipment should be procured through the school funds, he added.

According to a circular available with The Express Tribune, the government has instructed schools to install CCTV cameras, alarm systems, and metal detectors at entrances. Watchmen should be armed and trained while visitors should be discouraged during school hours. Schools should not allow vehicles inside and cars and vans should be parked at a distance from the premises.

The recommended measures include frequently checking garbage bins by janitorial staff and teachers. Wall chalking related to anti-state elements within the school’s vicinity should be observed and reported to the police.

Not a sole responsibility

Minister for Higher Education Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani had earlier said all educational institutions are required to follow security guidelines and obtain no objection certificates (NOC) from relevant DC offices.

On January 3, the education department issued a ‘security audit’ questionnaire to all schools and colleges. The forms consisted of 23 questions relevant to security arrangements.

School administrations voiced concerns over the financial burden of the arrangements and requested the education department to not evade responsibilities by putting the onus on administrations alone.

The principal of a local private school had told The Express Tribune at the time, “There are questions about whether your institute has sniffer dogs, walkthrough gates, metal detectors, search lights, etc.” He worried it might not be possible for all schools to arrange sniffer dogs or buy walkthrough gates and that the government might make the NOC conditional to these security arrangements.

Plan of action

A district level meeting was held on Tuesday under the supervision of DCs and educational department officials to discuss security measures for all educational institutes in the province.

It was decided that all government educational institutes will reopen on January 12 while private schools will have to consult the concerned education officer and DCs before deciding to reopen.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 7^th, 2014.