Petrina Francis, Staff Reporter

A raft of new measures to address the perennial problem of safety and security in schools was announced Wednesday by Andrew Holness, minister of education.

Speaking during the 44th annual conference of the Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA), Holness said the standard document deals with six areas of safety and security, and introduces some new concepts in the education system.

Holness said the document will by next year form the basis of a Safe School Act, which will define schools as an institution with a right of protecting itself.

Under threat

"The school is not a war zone and the teaching and learning environment is under threat, add to the frustration of our teachers, and make education a futile endea-vour," Holness said.

He added: "What we intend to do is to take back our schools from criminals."

The education minister said the document sets out the guidelines for security and safety in schools. The document, he said, is broken into three parts. It tells what is the ideal state of safety and security that the Ministry of Education expects that each school should attain, and then it gives schools the guidance. It also explains the philosophy of the policy.

"It gives you options that you can use to achieve the ideal state, and then it gives you the directives. The directives represent the minimum standards that even the most challenged schools should be able to meet," Holness told educators.

He added: "This strategy of delivering a standard in the education system is a very efficient one. It allows you to focus on the core areas that the minister of education would want to achieve and where enforcement is neces-sary, the minister of education would be focused there."

Minimum standard

The minister said some schools would have already been above the minimum standard. He noted a concept of zero tolerance in schools has been adopted.

Holness said the ministry has reinforced the concept of recording and reporting incidents in school.

"The document reinforces a fundamental principle that what is illegal in the society is illegal in the school (and) the school is not a place for breaking the law," he told the gathering at the Sunset Jamaica Grande Resort and Spa in St Ann. "There is no special pass for breaking the law of Jamaica because you are a student. Schools must become less worried about their reputation and more concerned about the insidious behavioural problems that we are having."

Holness warned students who take weapons to school that they will not be treated as students if they are caught. He also noted that the document addresses the issue of gangs in schools.

Other areas that the Security document will address

Guidance on how to go about setting up a safety and security network

Guidance as to how to develop an access policy to schools. The access policy gives directives about entry for visitors and media

Directives about the opening and closing of schools.