By Lukman Olabiyi
Lagos State government has introduced Safe School Lagos (SSLAG), an initiative to prevent a repeat of the incident that led to the death of 12-year-old student of the Dowen College, Lagos, Sylvester Oromoni, in schools.
According to the state government, the initiative is a proactive measure to and accidents, among others, in the public and private schools across the state.
This was disclosed by the Lagos State Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Folashade Adefisayo, at a workshop organised by the Lagos State Safety Commission (LSSC), tagged: “School Safety Initiatives Workshop.”
The commissioner, who was represented by the permanent secretary of the ministry, Mr. Abayomi Abolaji, said, apart from the measures being in place to curb bullying in schools, government has started identifying schools on major roads that are prone to auto crashes in order to prevent a reccurrence of the accident at Grammar School, Ojudu, Lagos.
He noted that schools on the highway would have speed breakers and traffic lights while officers like Neighborhood Watch, Federal Road Safety Corps, Lagos Safety Commission would be engaged to ameliorate the situation.
Director-general of LSSC, Mr. Lanre Mojola, explained that the essence of the safety initiative was to ensure that the school environment across the state is safe while the students are made to cohabit within a condusive learning atmosphere.
Mojola stressed safety measures are very important to ensure physical safety, disease control, discourage bullying and alcohol abuse, as well as training the school owners on how to ensure schools are safer.
“Safer schools produce safer children and safer children are the bedrock of the future. So what we shall be doing is to meet school operators and engage them on how we can make safety the fulcrum of the curriculum within the schools.
How we can ensure that teacher teach basic principles of safety and to ensure children interact at safety environment.
Safety begins with you and zero accident is possible if we all work together and in a safe environment.”
He added that the workshop centered on owners of boarding schools in Lagos State as the Commission would soon extend similar the exercise to other stakeholders.
Others at the event emphasised on high quality standard, quality parenting and community involvement for safety to be achieved.
They also suggested a systemic approach to manage safety in schools and colleges as well as ensuring total compliance as people should see safety as part of daily lives.
The Director General, Lagos Safety Commission, Mr Lanre Mojola explained that the whole essence of the Safe School Initiative is to ensure tha schools environment across the State are safe while the students are made to cohabit within a condusive learning atmosphere.
Mojola stressed safety measures are very important in order to ensure physical safety, disease control, discouraged bullying and alcohol abuse, as well as training the school owners on how to ensure schools are safer.
“Safer schools produce safer children and safer children are the bedrock of the future. So what we shall be doing is to meet school operators and engage them on how we can make safety the fulcrum of the curriculum within the schools.
How we can ensure that teacher teach basic principles of safety and to ensure children interact at safety environment.
Safety begins with you and zero accident is possible if we all work together and in a safe environment.”
He added that the workshop centered on owners of boarding schools in Lagos State as the Commission would soon extend similar the exercise to other stakeholders.
Others at the event emphasised on high quality standard, quality parenting and community involvement for safety to be achieved.
They also suggested a systemic approach to manage safety in schools and colleges as well as ensuring total compliance as people should see safety as part of daily lives.
