NEED FOR AN OMBUDSMAN: A CALL FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF A STATE DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL SAFETY & SECURITY.

NEED FOR AN OMBUDSMAN: A CALL FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF A STATE DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL SAFETY & SECURITY.

-????????Olutayo Aje.

?

The objective of this paper is to proffer solutions to the restive state of the Educational sector in Nigeria, focusing on Lagos state as an example due to its large, diverse population and post-modern developmental leaning of the government and leadership. The views articulated here aim to lay bare the causes and effects of the distressing trends many citizens face within the thriving Education industry in Lagos state while pointing out most likely paths to resolution through the establishment of a State Department of School Safety.

INSIGHT.

The disturbing state of our Educational establishments in Nigeria continue to generate worry and deep concern among the citizenry. ?While many may have given up hope in the future of the state of affair in the country given these distressing signals from the up and coming generation supposedly being trained to succeed the present generation of leaders. It is important therefore, to know that the recent occurrences that have prompted such judgments should rather be taken as the signal to double up on efforts to build a better society. Recent incidents circulating in the media and viral grapevines include cases of negligence leading to harm or death, murder, sexual violence, fraud, inappropriate relationships, vice, bullying, and drug related crime all happening at primary or secondary schools in the country. As sad and as frightening as these reports come to the fore, it is even more frightening to note that the incidences are far more commonplace than the received reports – only a small fraction of the cases ever get heard among the few that gain traction. For example, though ?the case of Keren Happuch may be in the fore, many still need to be reminded of a similar case that happened two years earlier in the same state to a student of the same age resulting in death in which the accused father and son rapist duo disappeared into thin air even as the noise over the incident since died out. The abuse of boys and girls at several government school boarding houses was also ignored despite appeals for help over the radio and other media. The grievous case of Sylvester Oromoni is a wake-up call to everyone on the impending doom for the society if these ugly occurrences are not stopped.

?

CRITICAL ISSUES

1.????Security.

A society that cannot provide security for its citizens cannot progress. As far back as human civilizations can be traced, history teaches that securing the environment is always a key priority for governments. It is only upon this that the layers of Peace, Progress, Unity and Faith can be laid. Security is also fundamental to the establishment of learning/educational systems for the environment must first be stabilized in order to undertake the intellectual rigors of studentship.

?

2.????Safety.

Safety also critical for learning. Student must feel safe and confident in order to properly assimilate. A safe school is one where teaching and learning are not distracted; disruptions are minimized; disease, trauma, threats, exploitation, violence, drugs, bullying and fear are not present; students are not discriminated against; expectations for behavior are clearly communicated; and consequences for infractions are consistently and fairly applied.

?

3.????Value Systems.

Civil societies are held together through the mutual adoption of value systems, laws and beliefs usually embedded into the child throughout the educational process. Indeed, the purpose of the Educational system is to produce valuable citizens for the society. The opportunity to embed these key concepts into the psyche of learners is lost through disruption especially when the experience does not validate the theory they learnt. The resultant effect of the current trends if not checked is the production of bad citizens who will further dismantle civilization.

?

EDUCATION SECTOR (EARLY YEARS TO SENIOR SECONDARY)

For greater impact, this paper will focus on the Education sector from inception to the end of Secondary school. As a matter of fact, this is where the most value can be obtained as these years are mission critical for the impartation of basic and standard knowledge in the learners.

?

The Education sector can be divided into two broad categories in Lagos state:

?

1.????Public Sector – These are the government run institutions providing the citizenry with Education according to the guidelines of the National Policy on Education and keeping up with objectives of other global bodies such as the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNICEF). Government is responsible for regulation and policy of this sector of the economy that is mandated to produce valuable workforce to drive National objectives.

2.????Private sector – In order to bridge wide gaps in governments execution of its Education objectives for the nation and to enable the teeming population gain access to a better future through Education, many private business concerns have flourished. Thriving on the dearth of spaces and infrastructure in the state, many citizens found it convenient (despite the high costs) to trust the Education of their children/wards into private schools.?

EDUCATION SECTOR MAIN PARTICIPANTS & ROLES

3.????Government – Responsible for regulation, Policy & Agenda setting.

4.????Parents/Guardians - Responsible for ensuring children enroll and attend school.

5.????School Owners/ School Management Boards - Provides conducive infrastructure, learning environment & administers Education plan & programs.

6.????Learners - Pupils, Students apply themselves to achieving set goals.

7.????Teachers - Develops learners according to set program & curriculum.

8.????Parent/Teacher Association – To assist in policy and governance at each school unit.

9.????Communities – Ensures educational establishments are for their own benefit and not for nuisance or hazard.

?

THE PRESENT DANGER

Social and Conventional media are presently saturated with stories of negative experiences encountered by various citizens in wide aspects of the school system. Indiscipline, breakdown of law, student on student violence, student on teacher, teacher on student, parent on teacher, cults, rape, inappropriate punishment/miscarriages of justice, child abuse, intimidation/harassment, bullying, hazards/ threats, drug abuse, infrastructure failure/inadequacies, exam malpractice, school population explosion, use of charms/dangerous weapons, are now common themes headlining school incidents.

?

Government is charged with the responsibility of managing a diverse, fast growing population of young people with the inherited pre-colonial structures, resources and techniques. These contexts get further complicated by the sudden, uninhibited exposure to global influence through culture and technology. With juveniles now moving up from misdemeanors into the more adult territory of full scale criminality, government security apparatus appear overwhelmed by this deluge.

?

Parents/Guardians encumbered with providing discipline, security, safety and stability for their children are complicated by multiple interpretations of what these terms entail. Hence the non-standardization of their interests has led to continuous conflicts with other involved parties such as school authorities, other parents

?

School owners and Managers delicately balance the need to stay profitable with the ethical responsibility of creating future citizens with little or no monitoring in the finer details of such enterprise. Mostly, the urge to make business profits outweigh any other requirement hence cutting corners is the name of the game from through the line here. School Management Boards in public Schools are apparently bogged down with similar issues.

?

Learners easily discover the loopholes or gaps in the system processes and ingeniously take or create advantages to suit themselves, these are mostly ignored by relevant authorities and helpless onlookers. At these early stages of life, the young learner lacks the ability to fully comprehend the import of actions and have a clear need for responsible guidance.

?

Teachers/Educators hands are tied as they struggle to understand or even agree with applicable rules of engagement with conflicting interests of students, parents and school owners, in addition to low wages and less than ideal working conditions. With teachers usually bearing the brunt of the fallouts from such conflicts, most adopt a detached attitude, avoiding deep involvements with parties while developing their own private pursuits.

?

Many Parent Teacher Associations are compromised bodies from the outset: in private schools they are controlled by those appointed by the proprietors, in public schools a cabal of mercantilists usually take charge mainly to satisfy their own pecuniary interests.

?

It is doubtful that Community Leaders any longer value the importance or advantages of schools being founded in their environments beyond the economics of attendant petty trades and rental values. The sense of pride of community schools or schools in the community seem lost as many schools in Lagos do not necessarily pay attention to inclusive roles for the community exclusively any longer.

?

SCHOOL SAFETY & SECURITY AS A SOLUTION

As far back as 1986, the U.S.A led the western world in creating a School Safety Initiative to counter the increases in violence, drugs and crime infesting the junior education systems. This has now evolved as a full-fledged government department with wide range of responsibilities specifically relating to young learners, Teachers, Parent, community and the challenges they face in the twenty first century. Equally notable is the fact that the origins of Law enforcement evolved from the original police constabulary force from which new entities emerged as a response to new challenges such as the Fire Fighting department or the Search and Rescue. Closer home, Nigeria experienced an epidemic of corrupt practices and Financial Crimes which led to the establishment of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in 2001 with personnel specially trained and equipped for the specific purpose. The results in the last twenty years have been phenomenal (though some may contend this claim) however leading to the recovery of massive looted funds while maintaining a preventive stance against those who might wish to act with impunity. As our society in the quest for progress continues to integrate global cultures and Western lifestyles, we also appropriate many of their negative aspects as consequence. We must begin to adopt proprietary measures to prevent these negative culture from overwhelming our society through our easily impressionable young people. Government must never shy away from its main duty of ensuring the Safety and security of its citizens as job number one, more so, its young people. An Agency or Department of School Safety could do just that having its mandate set out to enforce Safety and Security standards for all schools, perhaps in the following areas:

·???????Hazard Detection & Incident prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery in: (accidental death, school violence, man-made or natural disasters, cults, terrorism, drug abuse, child abuse, sexual abuse, etc.)

·???????Coordination, Oversight and compliance Management for Multi-Agency involvement such as Schools Management Boards, School Proprietors, Facility Managers, Community/Local Authorities, Examination Councils & Boards, Education, Professional Bodies, Principals, Parent Teacher Associations, NGO, Police & Security agencies, fire, EMS, physical & mental health services)

·???????Effective & Positive Discipline policy implementation.

Such an agency, if implemented ought also to have sufficient influence over Teacher/Professional Recruitment, School license approvals and ratings. Nevertheless, the consideration and Identification of emerging and existing contexts in the Education environment could also be a part of their mandate.

NATIONAL POLICY ON SAFETY, SECURITY & VIOLENCE FREE SCHOOLS

The FG/FME Minimum Standards for Safe Schools Policy ratified by Nigerian President Mohammed Buhari, GCFR in 2019 targets the Basic, Secondary and Informal Education and presents a robust framework for achieving its objectives. However, like many FG Policies, NPSSVFS ventures as far to confirm best global practice for Safe Schools but scores low on implementation. A key failing here is the expectation for Execution of the policy being left to the hands of multiple actors with really no motivation to produce results. ?Another flaw in FG/FME policy led approach is that it simply formulates new work load on existing job roles with no new incentives to perform. Our approach therefore goes beyond mere policy formulation, sloganeering and propaganda campaign to promote sustainable, state supported action against all forms of distraction to Education. This is why we call for a single new Agency enacted by Law and funded by taxpayers to drive the mission for Safety and Security in schools.

?

PROPOSED OPERATIONS & NOMENCLATURE

If this proposal is considered for advancement by Government, such an entity must create a new elite professional cadre known as School Safety Agents or Officials and its core must involve academics and professionals from the fields of Social Sciences, Sociology, Psychology, Psychiatry, Law, Education specializations, Leadership, Guidance & Counselling, Security Studies, Peace & Conflict Resolution, Health Sciences, Medicine, Pharmacology, Visual Arts, Cultural Studies, Music, Film & Theatre Arts, Religious Studies, Computer studies, and other relevant areas. The new entity must then source, vet, train, recruit, deploy and maintain a workforce capable of actively combating the social malaise within the complex spheres of School Safety and Security. It is important to note that in setting up such a body, State Government Executive Management at the highest level must have direct oversight of its activities in order to avoid its hijack for anti-social activities or being rendered ineffective by the lethargic forces of bureaucracy or corruption. The proposed Agency could be named as suggested: Lagos State School Safety Inspectorate, Lagos Schools Safety & Security Commission or Lagos Education Safety & Security Authority.

?

Achieving school safety and security, if carefully planned and implemented, would be a medium to long-term goal as schools and learning environments would in turn produce valuable human resources to support a viable and thriving society. ?Our suggested model seeks to adequately channel all services through a one-stop center for the benefit of school authorities, students and families by framing the necessary behavioral, mental health, and social services within the context of school culture and learning. The proposed model seeks to integrate services for sustainable and comprehensive school improvement, reduce duplicative efforts and redundancy, and demand leadership by principal officers, parents and government agencies which we believe must be both encouraged and enforced at all times.

?

?

THE HUMAN RIGHTS PERSPECTIVE

The Rights to Life, Dignity, Security, Freedom from Discrimination are some of the Foundational enablers of positive learning in the Educational environment. More specifically, the United Nations Safe Schools Declaration noted that “…education can help to protect children and youth from death, injury and exploitation; it can alleviate the psychological impact of armed conflict by offering routine and stability and can provide links to other vital services. Education that is ‘conflict sensitive’ avoids contributing to conflict and pursues a contribution to peace. Education is fundamental to development and to the full enjoyment of human rights and freedoms. We will do our utmost to see that places of education are places of safety.”

?

Thankfully Nigeria was one of the countries that endorsed this declaration and has taken steps to further it among her component states where the Federal Minister of Education stated: “All States are therefore encouraged to ensure that all public and private Basic and Secondary schools and non-formal centers attain and indeed surpass these minimum standards for safe, secure and violence free schools.”