A school is a temple of knowledge. It is also called the second home for children which is a secure place where the students feel safe and are free to learn their subject of choice and to learn the essentials of life. They learn to read, write, be a good competitor, build a good character, work on their sportive spirit, learn manners and many life skills. This temple of knowledge where one is blessed with a lot of wisdom has to have a security system of its own. A school is called a ‘home’ for a reason, and the importance of safety education in school is essential as it is the sense of security the students feel when they are on campus.
Many aspects fall under the safety of a school. The priority is given to the locality or the area where the building stands. When disaster strikes, the children in school are in a vulnerable state and are in grave danger. The infrastructure of the school should be planned in such a way that in times of dire emergencies, the buildings can also be used as evacuation centres. At Meru International School, the buildings are constructed in a safe manner.
Besides maintaining the security and safety of each individual on campus, the school should teach the students the art of defence and how to safeguard themselves. Schools are a sacred place where children learn to become great citizens of tomorrow.
The security/safety checklist of any school should cover five important aspects. It should include:
- Physical Safety
- Emotional and Social Safety
- Emotional and Personal Safety
- Cyber Safety
- Emergency Preparedness
What is Physical Safety?
There are many points to be considered when the physical safety of the school is being planned. Same is the case with the other types of securities.
As a part of the importance of safety education in school, the physical security covers many aspects such as school building, fire safety management, earthquake management, flood/cyclone/landslide management, electrical safety, safety from constructional hazards, safety in the playground and sports activities, water safety, laboratory safety, and transport management and safety. The following questions will be an answer to the physical security at school, for example:
- Is the school built as per the standards and norms that are given by the government?
- Is the school free and safe from any hazardous and toxic materials?
- Running water facility, first aid kits,
- Regular CCTV monitoring system, properly ventilated classes
- Fire extinguishers, efficient emergency evacuation plans on each floor
- An efficient water filter system, separate toilets built for different group ages
- Well-equipped and ventilated laboratories
- Protective walls/grills
- Transportation facility
- Centralised Public Announcement/Alarm System
Those mentioned above are few of the fundamental physical security steps to be kept in mind for a school.
At Meru, we take security seriously. We have around 400 CCTV cameras installed across our campus to ensure the physical safety of our students. Parents and administrators can track the whereabouts of children through the Live GPS Tracking System. We also make sure that a teacher is always present until the last student is dropped off. All our buses have a female attendee to address every sensitive need carefully.
What is Social Safety?
Social safety revolves around how safe the student feels in the school. Is he/she surrounded by students who are well-behaved and do no harm, etc.? Few of the social safety measures to have are as follows:
- Teaching students appropriate behaviour and social skills according to their age
- Training to tackle emotions and maintaining healthy peer relations
- To conduct regular sessions guiding students on how to deal with anger, stress, fear. And to refrain from bullying, criticism, ragging, bad language etc.
What is Emotional and Personal Safety?
Besides physical and social security, another most essential aspect is personal safety. The things that fall under this category are
- Health
- Hygiene and sanitation
- Safety measures for children with disabilities
- Trauma management
- Safety against ** abuse
A child’s emotional development is a key factor in their educational success as their minds are tender, and the environment that they grow up in at school has to be healthy and safe for their betterment. Any issues related to emotional, personal and social safety must be addressed immediately. We, at Meru International School, aim at creating an emotionally safe learning environment where academic excellence thrives.
Our CIRCLE Time Programme is a whole-school approach to provide a spiritual, moral, social and cultural development to our students, by developing a caring ethos, teaching by example, encouraging democratic values, pro-social behaviour, self-discipline and motivation. Circle Time will help our students enjoy learning, improves friendships and strengthens the relationship between peers and facilitators.
What is Cyber Safety?
Cyber-safety plays a very crucial role in the importance of safety education in school. It is the act of using the internet service safely without harming self or others. Responsibly using the service results in a productive experience. It is all about how to be safe and protected against being cheated online, resulting in loss of money. Certain steps taken into consideration are as follows:
- Blocking sites which are irrelevant to school and students, eg.: shopping sites, games, etc.
- Blocking social networking sites so that precious study time isn’t wasted
- Educate the students on the safe usage of technology and to be a responsible digital citizen
- Instruct students to use mobiles sensibly
- Handle the cyber-crimes with sensitivity and confidentiality
At Meru International School, we make sure that our students are safe and feel safe. Our security systems are constantly checked and supervised.
