Safe Schools – By Kisean Joseph
Safe Schools Programme Expands
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The Ministry of Education has begun piloting its Model Safe School Programme (MSSP) in two secondary schools this month, marking the initiative’s first expansion beyond the primary level since it launched in May 2018.
Rolston Nickeo, Education Officer for Schools Administration and Focal Point for Safe Schools, told Observer Radio the programme is essentially a framework for helping schools become safer, more prepared and more resilient to emergencies, disasters and other threats.
Nickeo said the programme rests on four main pillars: identifying risk and hazard, strengthening school safety and preparedness, protecting staff and students, and improving school infrastructure, all aimed at building a lasting culture of safety across the public school system.
“In simple terms, I would say the Modern Safe School Programme is about moving our schools from simply responding to emergencies to proactively identifying risk, reducing those risks, and preparing people and systems, and creating a culture of safety and resilience in our school system,” he said.
According to Nickeo, the programme is not only concerned with immediate physical threats, but also with building the systems and habits that allow a school community to recognise and manage risk before it escalates into a crisis. He said this proactive approach marks a significant shift from the traditional model, where schools primarily focused on responding after an incident had already occurred.
The programme covers pre-school to secondary levels and involves mostly public schools, though some private institutions have also taken part. Fifteen safety agents are currently deployed across nine primary schools, and the new secondary school pilot will test whether that model can be adapted for older students.
Nickeo was keen to stress that the initiative is not solely about the presence of the safety agents themselves but represents a broader institutional effort to embed a culture of safety throughout the school system.
He said the agents are not teachers and received two weeks of induction training covering conflict resolution, child protection, incident report writing and certified first aid when the initiative began last October.
Nickeo also clarified that the agents are not security officers in the traditional sense. Instead, they patrol school grounds watching for safety hazards on the compound, while also engaging directly with students to help minimise student-to-student conflict before it develops into a larger issue.
That dual role, Nickeo suggested, positions the safety agents as both a preventative and a supportive presence within the school environment, distinct from a purely disciplinary or security function.
