Commission warns against safety negligence in schools, inaugurates prefects

To promote safer learning environment, the Lagos State Safety Commission yesterday warned against safety negligence by school managements and tasked newly-inaugurated prefects to ensure highest standards of safety for pupils.

Director-General of the commission, Mr. Lanre Mojola, who spoke during the inaugural training for the first set of safety prefects in Lagos, said there was need for schools’ managements to be alert to their responsibility of ensuring that pupils travel from their home to school safely, and return without hazards.

He charged the school prefects and ambassadors to support efforts of the state government in mitigating accidents in the course of knowledge acquisition, and keep the vision and mission of promoting opportunities and excellence in the state.

The safety prefects include representatives of schools within the six educational districts of Lagos State.

Mojola said the responsibility of the prefects would include assisting school management in maintaining safety and health discipline among the students’ community and collaborating with the school authority in self-regulating the safety and health compliance.

He explained that the initiative would empower school children to become major stakeholders in mitigating risks exposure and promote sustainable safety culture in learning environment.

According to him, the commission would broaden its school safety programme to also include over six thousand public and private primary/secondary schools in a bid to ensure that schools are safe and imbibe safety culture in the students.