Back-to-school doesn’t have to mean back-to-worrying. Schools today everywhere ensure around the clock safety and security for the students as well as the school staff. Keeping schools safe allows children to look forward to being in an encouraging environment that promotes social and creative learning. When their basic safety needs aren’t met, children are at risk for not feeling comfortable at school and may stop showing up, or they may remain on edge throughout the day. Promoting school safety creates an open space for kids to explore, learn and grow.
Like the U.S, India is a place of many contrasts when it comes to school safety and it is important for all the stakeholders to ensure that every student is safe and secure inside the school campus and when commuting from and to the school every day.
The three main aspects of student safety and security a school should be aware and practice in their administration and campus are:
Physical security
It is essential to keep the school environment including the school buildings, premises, playgrounds, laboratories, swimming pool, computer rooms, libraries, toilets, drinking water facilities, school buses, transport area, and the surrounding areas safe and secure. School buildings should be built to ensure safety and be more resilient to hazards. When it comes to any catastrophe, whether natural or man-made, the school administration should train staff, teachers as well as students to be better aware and prepared to respond.
CBSE has also made it mandatory for its affiliate schools to have their buildings designed to be earthquake resilient and fitted with basic fire safety equipment. Schools must leverage low-cost and environment-friendly technologies without compromising on structural soundness and safety of the buildings, to provide complete protection from natural disasters like earthquakes.
Visual Security
Installing CCTV cameras at strategic locations across school premises ensures that a child’s day-to-day life in school is constantly being monitored and recorded. This allows schools to be vigilant and constantly be on the lookout for any forms of child abuse, whether physical or emotional. The staff can then be trained to understand key indicators of child abuse and be prepared to respond instantly to inappropriate or harmful behavior.
CCTV cameras installed in key strategic locations across the campus not only provide peace of mind, but also a sense of prevention, preparedness, and response. The security cameras can be effective in school safety investigations or even act as deterrents to such behavior.
Emotional safety
Just as the physical safety of children in schools is important to ensure complete student safety, so too is their psychosocial safety. Children who are victims of violence show continuous symptoms of depression, dissociative reactions, feelings of helplessness, lack of emotional intelligence, and aggression. Emotional and psychosocial maltreatment destroys a child’s sense of self and personal safety. Schools must provide the right ambience to develop and enrich talents to facilitate the total development of a child’s personality. Effective school safety policies, such as anti-bullying, are as important as high-quality education, and should be fully integrated into school planning and strategy.
When it comes to the safety and security of students within the school campus, GIG Vijayawada takes it one notch higher with the elaborately planned and detailed 5C Security Protocol, which not only covers every aspect of Physical Security, Visual Security, and Emotional Security, it also includes Data Security and Digital Security.
To stay ahead of the curve and be prepared to handle all the challenges a technological future may bring New World International School, Muscat equips and prepares students from the classroom itself, by using technological tools and online equipment to teach. Which is why the use of advanced technology goes beyond the classrooms to protect not only its school’s administerial data but also the students against any online malware or misuse. To ensure that, the concept of Data Security and Digital Security have been introduced. From RFID identity tags to computerized entry and exit protocols, Digital Security on campus grounds is stringent while the privacy of all students, parents, teachers and content database is well-protected to ensure no data breach.
Just like Data and Digital Security, New World International School’s unique 5C safety protocol ensures the other aspects of security are also taken care of. The Physical Safety protocols ensure all the exit and entry gates are manned by alert and expertly trained personnel whose credentials are also verified thoroughly. This security is complemented with Visual Security where the school campus is equipped with hi-tech surveillance practices like CCTV, perimeter and corridor cameras to monitor and track all activity within the school premises. Emotional Security is also taken into account with strict anti-bullying guidelines that create a safe atmosphere for students which is healthy and fosters a sense of enjoyment and eagerness in coming to school.
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