School safety officers start duties today

THE first batch of precepted school safety officers are expected to take up duties at several schools today, as part of the ministry’s ongoing programme to “modernise the education system.” The officers yesterday attended another training seminar at the Police Training College, as well as had their fingerprints taken. Speaking to Newsday yesterday, one of the officers said the reason for delaying the finger-printing exercise, was because most of them came from the protective services and were fairly well known by the facilitators. He said they were all above the rank of Sergeant.

He described the two-week training as intense under the direction of former Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force Captain Michael Celestine. He said lectures were delivered by foreign and local consultants, including psychologists and human resource personnel. Some of the topics focused on disaster preparation, how to deal with bomb threats, as well as emphasis on ensuring that the children’s rights are protected at all times. He said training would be ongoing. They will be assigned to schools today, including Mucurapo Junior Secondary, San Juan Senior Secondary and Williamsville Junior Secon-dary. The Ministry of Education said the officers would be placed in 28 schools. A second batch will be trained in January.