British Council calls for stronger safeguards to protect learners
Schools have an obligation to ensure that learners are safe from the moment they enter school premises, while parents, siblings, domestic workers and other members of the community also have a role to play in protecting children outside school.
(From left) Eric Okello, Fion Bukirwa and Millicent Mugabi. (Courtesy)
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The British Council Uganda has called for stronger safeguards to protect learners from abuse, bullying and emerging digital threats.
Speaking during a recent visit to Scoris International School in Kibuli, Kampala, Millicent Mugabi, the British Council Uganda Country Director, said safeguarding should not be treated as the sole responsibility of school administrators or parents, but as a collective obligation involving everyone who interacts with children.
“Child protection is a shared responsibility that extends beyond school premises. Schools, parents, teachers, learners and communities must work together to create safe environments where children are protected from physical, emotional and psychological harm, both in school and at home,” she said.
Mugabi noted that safeguarding is everyone's responsibility, does not belong to the school alone, it does not belong to the homestead alone, and it does not belong to the students, hence everyone’s responsibility.
She explained that schools have an obligation to ensure that learners are safe from the moment they enter school premises, while parents, siblings, domestic workers and other members of the community also have a role to play in protecting children outside school.
“From the moment a student enters the school premises, they have to be safe, they have to feel safe, and those around them should also be safe. When they go outside the school setting, there are several factors that have to be considered, including their journey home and the environment within their homes,” she said.
Mugabi added that raising awareness about safeguarding requirements and encouraging people to respect and implement them was an important starting point in ensuring that children feel safe in every environment.
Fiona Bukirwa, the British Council Uganda Safeguarding Manager, said the changing nature of risks facing children, particularly through digital platforms and emerging technologies, requires schools to regularly review their safeguarding policies and practices.
Bukirwa said the British Council operates in more than 100 countries and continually assesses the risks faced by children who access its educational products and services.
“Our main focus currently is on online safety, given the emergence of many digital products and services, the advancement of AI and all these technologies. It is really an effort to keep up with the changing ecosystem in which our children live,” Bukirwa said.
She noted that the risks children face today differ significantly from those experienced by previous generations, making it necessary for schools and other institutions responsible for children's welfare to continually assess and improve their approaches.
“The abuse that we knew when I was growing up, perhaps 30 or 40 years ago, has changed, just as the environment in which we are raising our children has changed. It warrants that we constantly assess, understand and evaluate what risk looks like, what we need to do better and what we need to redesign,” she said.
She further explained that children can experience harm through online bullying, the misuse of their images and other forms of digital abuse, requiring teachers and school administrators to understand how to identify, report and respond to such incidents.
She said the British Council, in collaboration with UNICEF, developed a safeguarding toolkit to help schools assess existing protection systems, identify gaps and develop appropriate responses to risks affecting learners.
The resource is intended to complement existing safeguarding policies rather than replace them, providing practical guidance that schools can use to determine whether their current systems adequately address emerging threats.
“It is not that there is nothing out there. Many schools have amazing systems and processes in place. But we wanted something that would allow for continuous review and help us check whether what we have still serves us in this day and age, with the new risks and concerns our children are facing,” Bukirwa said.
She said the safeguarding toolkit provides step-by-step guidance to help teachers and other school personnel respond appropriately when a learner discloses abuse or when concerns about a child's safety arise.
Safeguarding involves both prevention and response, requiring schools not only to put measures in place to minimise risks but also to provide appropriate support when an incident occurs.
Bukirwa added that responses must be tailored to individual circumstances because children who experience abuse may require different forms of assistance.
The toolkit is available in different forms, including a publicly accessible starter kit and a more comprehensive resource for British Council partner schools.
Bukirwa said the starter kit introduces schools and individuals to safeguarding principles, while partner schools receive access to the enhanced toolkit as part of the support provided through the British Council's partnership programme.
She added that the organisation works with partner schools across approximately 40 countries, with more than 20 partner schools in Uganda, although the precise number may vary.
Eric Okello, the headmaster of Scoris International School in Kibuli, said adopting the safeguarding toolkit had helped the institution identify weaknesses in its existing systems and improve its policies for protecting learners.
Okello encouraged other schools to adopt similar approaches, saying regular reviews were necessary because the risks facing children continue to evolve.
“It is important for each and every school to adopt this toolkit. Our experience with the British Council, particularly regarding the toolkit, has been very positive and encouraging,” Okello said.
“Before, we used to have challenges, especially in trying to identify some of the blind spots that needed to be addressed when it came to the safety of our children. But the toolkit has helped us assess our systems, examine our safeguarding policies, identify gaps and implement corrections,” he added.
He said the resource was particularly useful because it provides a structured framework that schools can adapt to their specific circumstances and needs.
Okello said accessible reporting mechanisms are important because children need to know whom to approach when they felt unsafe or encounter difficulties.