Revision of the Education Ministry's School Security and Safety Policy Guidelines has been completed and the document is expected to be ready for distribution by the start of the new academic year, September 2015.

Director of safety and security in schools at the Ministry, Sergeant Coolridge Minto, told JIS News all policies pertaining to safety and security in schools have been reviewed and the document should be available to all schools and their deans of discipline.

The National School Security Policy provides guidelines and protocols on how schools' guidance counsellors, safety and Security personnel, as well school boards, handle student security, security risk management, discipline, interventions and behaviour modification.

"The manual will include matters such as, bullying and even missing persons. It outlines things to do if a child goes missing, and will also include aspects of human trafficking, because we have had a number of cases where children (go) missing and some of them have been trafficked," Sergeant Minto said.

He further pointed out that aspects of the Child Care and Protection Act will be included in the manual, so that all stakeholders in schools will be aware of reporting procedures, as well as their roles, as prescribed persons under the law.

Meanwhile, deans of discipline from across the island are being upgraded in preparation for the 2015/2016 school year.

"We have just completed a full part of a training (programme) for all deans of discipline. One hundred and 10 of them were brought to the National Police College where they were trained," Sergeant Minto noted.

"The Ministry of Education has also carried out a security audit, looking at some of the things they will confront in dealing with students. That was part one, (and) we are hoping to do part two of the training in the summer," he added.