Lagos insists on safety for schoolchildren to enhance learning

The Lagos State Government says it is imperative for schools to ensure that every child is kept safe within the walls of learning.

The Director-General of the Office of Education Quality Assurance (OEQA), Mrs Abiola Seriki-Ayeni, stated this on Wednesday at the conclusion of a three-day intervention seminar in Alausa, Ikeja, titled, ‘Safeguarding and Child Protection in Schools’ for private schools in the state.

Abiola Seriki-Ayeni said the OEQA had ensured that schools complied with minimum safety standards as it was important in child protection.

The Director-General, who was represented by the Director, Private Education and Special Programmes, Mrs Bambi Falayi, noted that the government had continued to put in place adequate measures to stop insecurity in schools.

Seriki-Ayeni said, “Schools must recognise the role they play in ensuring the wellbeing and safety of children, especially as they spend a significant time of their day in school. Schools are institutions of learning hence they have to comply with standards of learning as well as protection.

“The state government is emphatic on child protection policy, but the government should not be left alone to tackle the issue of safety and security in schools: It is essential for schools to have a ‘child protection officer’ for complaint and enquiry.”

Giving her own opinion, Bambi noted that the majority of cases reported to the Domestic and Sexual Violence Agency (DSVA) happened in schools that were not approved by OEQA, insisting that all schools must register and validate their operations with the agency in order to get sensitised on things to put in place to ensure that every child is protected.

One of the Coordinating Directors representing Education District VI, Mr Dayo Adekunle urged the school proprietors to see safety as essential because as school owners they were responsible for whatever happens in their schools.

An officer with the DSVA, Mr. Henry Okafor put participants through the process of early identification of domestic and sexual violence in schools as well as ways to report such cases to the agency.