Safe School Conference: "Schools' Safety and Security- Partnership in Action"

If the numbers that gathered at the Jamaica Conference Centre on Wednesday October 13th was indicative of the persons who are actively interested and ready to institutionalize Safety and Security within Schools then it would be safe to say that Safety and Security was an inevitable success awaiting our education system. The conference centre was filled with: Principals, Guidance Counsellors, Deans of Discipline, Student Resource Officers, Students and all other stakeholders that play a part in the creation of a safer haven within the school's physical perimeter for its attending members. The conference which was an collaborative effort by the Ministry of Education, Ministry of National Security, Ministry of Health, the JCF and USAID was focused on gathering stakeholders together and further imparting to them the purpose of the programme, the importance of their roles and co-operation to the programme, the implications of the success of the programme to the wider society and also allowing them a forum to clarify all inhibitions and concerns they might have concerning potential hindrances to the programme's success. The media was present as the importance to make the wider society aware of the initiative and dedication of the associated Ministries and other contributing members to making schools the safe and secure academic unit that it should be was of primary importance.

Ms. Sherrian Gray, Policy Manager, Social Intervention Coordination and Public Order MInistry of National Security provided an overview of the Safety and Security Programme highlighting that the programme was launched with the mission of reducing incidents of violence by 40% in three years. The programme she furthered expressed was built on some key principles inclusive of: student centeredness, dialogue and intervention. Miss Nadine Malloy, President of the Jamaica's Teachers' Association (JTA) acknowledged the importance of the conference, she stated that everyone should give of their time to mentor our young people. She appropriated a quote from Herman Melville (sailor and author), "We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men; and among those fibers, as sympathetic threads, our actions run as causes, and they come back to us as effects." Miss Malloy also made a charge to the Ministry of Education to take the lead in making our schools a better place. All other authoritarians that were in attendance of the conference all voiced a similar view that the conference was an excellent starting point and with the dedication and co operation of all persons the programme had great potential to efficiently address the plaguing problem of crime and deviance in schools. Dr. Karen Hilliard, Mission Director of the UNited States Agency of International Development commended the numbers that were in attendance postulating that if the numbers demonstrated the depth and breadth of relationships that had to be and could be maintained to ensure safer schools then it sure looked promising. She further stated that development was not what Americans did in Jamaica but what Jamaicans did in Jamaica with a little assistance. She extended gratitude to UNICEF and USAID Comet saying that all things were possible with their support. The innovation of placing Student Resource Officers in schools she deduced as clever as she thought that the school was the perfect place to learn that the police was not to be feared but thought of as a friend and a source of protection.


Other persons that made presentations/ speeches representing the agency/institution which they represented were: Mr. Andre Stephens President of the National Secondary Students' Council, Mrs. Carla Francis-Edie, CEO, Child Development Agency, Mr. Robert Fuderich, United Nations Children's Fund Jamaica Representative, Senator Basil Waite, Opposition Spokesperson on Education, Mr. Alphansus Davis, Senior Advisor to the Minister of Education, Superintendent James Forbes, Jamaica Constabulary Force, Miss Valeen Calder, Assistant Superintendent of Police, Jamaica Constabulary Force. Testimonials were also given from Principals and other authoritarians from Schools which have previously institutionalized the programme. Each testimonial highlighted the safety measure modifications made to teach school. The keynote address was delivered by the Minister of Education Honorable Andrew Holness, he gave special recognition to UNICEF in administering the policy for Safe Schools and he also extend special thanks to the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Owen Ellington who was unavoidable absent but was represented by Mrs. Novelette Grant the Deputy Commissioner of Police. His words further emphasized and echoed the beliefs of previous presenters that the business of safety and security is not just solely a matter for the police but had to be a joint approach. He clarified that the school was more than just for academics but also the main socializing arm of the state. Institutional arrangements of thirty years ago is insufficient to deal with the issues of today. His views were that, thirty years ago we had a strong value system while today it is influx. Students, he continued, now have access to so much information that it changes the power structure relationship between the student and the teacher and between the parent and the child. In closing to that point he explained that it was one thing to have information but if it can't be used for benefit it can lead down a path of deviation. His address highlighted new strategies being adopted by his ministry to respond to the safety problem including a newly institutionalized National Students Registry, which presents a unique identifier to each child within the education system which he says hopes to trace progress of child from their entry to their exit.

The exhibtions of brochures, pamphlets and other collectible materials defining different aspects of the programme lined the lobby area leading to the conference room. The conference left no doubt in everyone's mind that was present that the key to a better society could well be reached through the success and dedication to this programme. It was well put by the Deputy Commissioner of Police in her address when she stated, "We all have to take responsibilty because at the end of the day the children are modeling behavior they have seen from us."

The CSSB launches Youth Volunteer Program

"Police Statues Regulate Roadways"

The traffic department of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) in partnership with the Community Safety and Security Branch (CSSB) and (insert next partner) have been proactively devising and executing new strategies in an attempt to reduce the amount of accidents on the Jamaican roadways islandwide. The latest innovations are the life size statues of traffic police officers that will be strategically placed on accident proned roadways in order to maintain and regularize the speed of motorists. the statues are of the officers fully clad in uniform holding a radar gun. The statues that will be mounted in each area will resemble and be the actual silhouette of an active and renown traffic police that is assigned and operates in that geographical region. From a distance motorists will not be able to differentiate between the police statues and the actual police personnel. Occassionally the statues will be substituted with the actual officers of whom they are a replica unannounced and therefore motorists are cautioned to travel at the appropriate speeds on the roadways for their own safety. it is with hope  that after a period of time, in response to the campaign, motorists will not need an officer or statue to determine the speed at which they travel but will proactively practice Road Safety through Safe Driving.

The first statue was temporarily mounted in September and the anticpated public response was achieved as motorists tended to adjust their speed accordingly as they approached the statue. The campaign is expected to be launched in its entirety (insert date that statues are expected to be mounted). The campaign will encompass all parishes and the progress of the campaign will be closely monitored in order to measure its effectiveness. The amount of life lost as a result of road Accidents paired with reckless driving is a growing cause of concern in Jamaica. The CSSB and DIFID, are working tirelessly to implement effective ways to address and help to promote and instill in all motorists the importance of practicing Road Safety through adhering to Road Rules.