Police releases guidelines ahead of schools reopening
We also recommend that all children are examined by schools upon their return from home for any signs of child abuse during the holiday - Enanga.
Police have issued new guidelines to school administrators and parents which will be followed ahead of the opening up of schools for the new academic term.
These guidelines, according to police, are aimed at reminding school authorities and parents about their legal responsibilities to protect school children from harm, including risks paused by health, safety and security.
According to Fred Enanga, the police spokesperson, these guidelines are usually adhered to but they are always released in coordination with the ministry of education and sports.
He said it’s always important that the safety of children is observed in schools because they may lack skills to protect themselves hence the responsibility ending up falling onto the hands of parents and school administrators.
“All schools should review their security emergency preparations for circumstances such as school fires or the collapse of a building and also review their school visitor procedures.
We also recommend that all children are examined by schools upon their return from home for any signs of child abuse during the holiday,” he said.
While communicating with mothers, Enanga highlighted that it is important for children while being taken to school to memorize the routes, landmarks, and safe areas between school and home so that they have somewhere to run in case of an emergency.
He added that parents should teach the children to be alert especially not to leave the school premises unattended.
“They are many child predators and kidnappers who we need to guard against. It is important to help our children memorize contact information, their full names, and their home addresses now that they are going back to school,” he noted.
Following the release of the 2023 academic calendar for Pre-Primary, Primary, Secondary, Technical/Farm Schools, and Community Polytechnics, the ministry of education and sports noted that the first term shall commence on February 06, 2023, and will end on May 05, 2023.
This means that term one will consist of 89 study days. The first term holiday will last for only 23 days meaning that term One holiday will run from May 06, 2023, to May 28, 2023.
