Miffed by the rising spate of insecurity and rape in the society, especially within school environments, Rivers State Basic Education Board (RSUBEB) has midwifed a process to establish codified rules and principles that would become implementable policy to govern, guide, and regulate conducts in schools across the 23 local government areas of the state.
The codified rules are in compliance and realisation of the Federal Ministry of Education, World Bank and the Universal Basic Education Commission efforts in making safeguards an integral component of basic education schools management in the country.
Speaking at a 2-day capacity building workshop with the theme, “Development of SUBEB Referral, Pathway & Centre Code of Conduct”, organised to equip some selected teaching and non-teaching staff of the board in guidance and counselling, technical, building technology teachers, lawyers and other critical stakeholders, like the media, Christian-based and civil society organisations in the development and implementation of safeguard policies in basic education with regard to Better Education Service Delivery for All(BESDA), recently in Port Harcourt, the Executive Chairman of RSUBEB, Ven.FynefaceAkah said that education content has gone beyond the classroom teaching activities but safeguard as one of the ways to guarantee effective teaching and learning in the school environment.
Akahsaid that the training, which was more of technical, was for the board to develop codes and processes of realising effective security and protection of teachers and learners within the school environment, adding that it was part of the whole content of basic education service delivery.
“One of the ways to guarantee effective teaching and learning in the school is to talk about security and protection of both teachers and the pupils, we shall develop a feedback mechanism that will enable us know what is happening in our schools”, he stated.
The RSUBEB boss, however,said that part of the insecurity in the school environment was caused by the teachers, who were handlers of the children, especially the sexually-molested girl-child, saying that the workshop would develop conduct codes that would enforce functional disciplinary measures to serve as deterrents across the schools in the state.
“How do we safeguard our children?What are the protocols so that parents will feel relaxed on the social trust placed on us and justify it?So, you are all chosen to learn and work with the board in achieving this policy direction”, he stated.
Also speaking, the Director, Social Mobilisation, RSUBEB, Mr Ibe Ogwe said BESDA programme has multiple dimensions,explaining that the essence of the training was to ensure that issues of trespass, abuses were addressed so as not to stop both the learners and the teachers from attaining their statutory goals in the basic education service delivery system.
In her contributions while delivering lectures during the two-day programme, the lead facilitator and consultant, Mrs Omokide Chikodi described safeguard as mechanism designed to prevent unhealthy occurrences in the school, whilechild rights protection measures were policies designed to check harm to pupils.
According to her, the workshop was designed to acquaint the participants with relevant information needed to safeguard pupils in their various schools with a view of proffering solutions to the myriads of hazards in the school.

By: Akujobi Amadi