Security: What precaution is your school taking against terror attacks?
Jul 13, 2010
This week began on a sad note with news of bomb blasts that killed over 74 people at Kyadondo Rugby Grounds and Ethiopian Village Restaurant, Kabalagala. The incident has heightened security checks in many public places.
This week began on a sad note with news of bomb blasts that killed over 74 people at Kyadondo Rugby Grounds and Ethiopian Village Restaurant, Kabalagala. The incident has heightened security checks in many public places. It also raises concern over what schools have done to ensure security of their premises. Joshua Kato, Gilbert Kidimu, Joyce Nakato and Winnie Nanteza set out to establish how security conscious the schools around town are:
There have been several incidences where schools have been attacked by militants. In western Uganda, the Allied Democratic Front rebels attacked Kichwamba Technical Institute in 1998, killing over 30 students.
In 1997, the Lord’s Resistance Army rebels attacked Aboke Girls School and abducted 139 students.
Tighten security checks
Schools should take precaution by checking students’ bags, bodies, vehicles and bicycles.
However, this is not the case. At one of the largest day schools in the country, students entered with different sizes of bags without being checked.
Day schools like Kololo SSS, City High and Kitante have thousands of students coming in everyday and going out in the evening. This means that security has to check them. Anyone of these might be tricked into carrying a bomb into the school.
Gate keepers challenged
“I know that we have to rigorously check these cars, but we do not have the facilities that can help us do so,†says the City High School gatekeeper.
The facilities used for checking vehicles include a glass magnifier that is rolled under the vehicle. The gate keepers face another dilemma of knowing the identity and face of every student. In this case, an ironed school uniform cannot do. A shrewd terrorist can easily order it tailored.
“The trick lies in having class registers at the gate all the time,†says a teacher at Kololo SSS. This means more time will be spent at the gates.
Boarding schools
In boarding schools, the threat might come from teachers and other workers who come from outside everyday.
But even then, the dormitories in most of these schools are so close to the perimeter walls that a person outside can easily throw objects inside.
What about universities?
At universities, students live in diverse hostels and it is not easy to control who comes in and out.
Makerere University (MUK) has guards at the main gates. However, there are many entrances that students can use. A terrorist can easily walk into the university, plant his bomb and walk away undetected.
There are five gates at MUK, several at Makerere Business School and a road that passes through Kyambogo University.
A day after the bombings, a New Vision reporter drove through Kyambogo University, to the side of Ntinda without being questioned by a security personnel.
At the moment, few schools have trained personnel to handle this new threat. Most of the guards are either picked from the villages or from private security groups around the country. When they were recruited, bomb detection was note a requirement.
City High School, time: 11:35am
I drive towards the school gate. The gate is made of iron bars and metallic wire mesh. It is kept locked using a heavy metal chain and a big padlock.
There is a small gate to allow in visitors on foot. The gate keeper, dressed in a blue outfit with the inscriptions, City High Security near the right shirt pocket opens the small gate and comes out.
“Sorry sir, we no longer allow any vehicles inside the school premises because of what happened,†he says. He orders me to park on the pavement outside the gate. He requests me for a body check, opens and checks a small bag I have, before allowing me into the school.
I see several vehicles parked inside, at the parking area of the school under a big tree. I ask whether the vehicles were checked.
“They belong to staff, but we checked them,†he says. This gate keeper seemed to know his job and he did it with precision.
Bat Valley Primary School
I pass by two policemen at the gate but none of them bothers to ask me anything. They are deeply engrossed in a conversation.
I walk straight to the head teacher’s office without anyone questioning where I am going. The headmistress, Sarah Baziwe, says: “We don’t allow anyone to take out a pupil without a leave chit from the headteacher’s office.â€
She says it is part of the curriculum to educate pupils on how to keep safe at school, on their way back home, and while at home. “We advise them to walk in groups, avoid lonely and dark places and we also tell them to make alarms in case someone is trying to take them,†she adds.
She says ‘peer say messages’ are communicated to the students during assemblies everyday. However, she says the school has a problem with parents who send different boda boda men to pick their children.
Buganda Road Primary School
The gatekeeper is chatting with a lady cook. As I walk in, he briefly stares at me but continues with his conversation.
I remind him of his duty to check visitors. He calls me back after I have moved a few metres into the school compound. He then hands me a book to sign and reluctantly holds my bag but hands it back to me without checking it.
The head teacher declined to comment on the security of the school.
There have been several incidences where schools have been attacked by militants. In western Uganda, the Allied Democratic Front rebels attacked Kichwamba Technical Institute in 1998, killing over 30 students.
In 1997, the Lord’s Resistance Army rebels attacked Aboke Girls School and abducted 139 students.
Tighten security checks
Schools should take precaution by checking students’ bags, bodies, vehicles and bicycles.
However, this is not the case. At one of the largest day schools in the country, students entered with different sizes of bags without being checked.
Day schools like Kololo SSS, City High and Kitante have thousands of students coming in everyday and going out in the evening. This means that security has to check them. Anyone of these might be tricked into carrying a bomb into the school.
Gate keepers challenged
“I know that we have to rigorously check these cars, but we do not have the facilities that can help us do so,†says the City High School gatekeeper.
The facilities used for checking vehicles include a glass magnifier that is rolled under the vehicle. The gate keepers face another dilemma of knowing the identity and face of every student. In this case, an ironed school uniform cannot do. A shrewd terrorist can easily order it tailored.
“The trick lies in having class registers at the gate all the time,†says a teacher at Kololo SSS. This means more time will be spent at the gates.
Boarding schools
In boarding schools, the threat might come from teachers and other workers who come from outside everyday.
But even then, the dormitories in most of these schools are so close to the perimeter walls that a person outside can easily throw objects inside.
What about universities?
At universities, students live in diverse hostels and it is not easy to control who comes in and out.
Makerere University (MUK) has guards at the main gates. However, there are many entrances that students can use. A terrorist can easily walk into the university, plant his bomb and walk away undetected.
There are five gates at MUK, several at Makerere Business School and a road that passes through Kyambogo University.
A day after the bombings, a New Vision reporter drove through Kyambogo University, to the side of Ntinda without being questioned by a security personnel.
At the moment, few schools have trained personnel to handle this new threat. Most of the guards are either picked from the villages or from private security groups around the country. When they were recruited, bomb detection was note a requirement.
City High School, time: 11:35am
I drive towards the school gate. The gate is made of iron bars and metallic wire mesh. It is kept locked using a heavy metal chain and a big padlock.
There is a small gate to allow in visitors on foot. The gate keeper, dressed in a blue outfit with the inscriptions, City High Security near the right shirt pocket opens the small gate and comes out.
“Sorry sir, we no longer allow any vehicles inside the school premises because of what happened,†he says. He orders me to park on the pavement outside the gate. He requests me for a body check, opens and checks a small bag I have, before allowing me into the school.
I see several vehicles parked inside, at the parking area of the school under a big tree. I ask whether the vehicles were checked.
“They belong to staff, but we checked them,†he says. This gate keeper seemed to know his job and he did it with precision.
Bat Valley Primary School
I pass by two policemen at the gate but none of them bothers to ask me anything. They are deeply engrossed in a conversation.
I walk straight to the head teacher’s office without anyone questioning where I am going. The headmistress, Sarah Baziwe, says: “We don’t allow anyone to take out a pupil without a leave chit from the headteacher’s office.â€
She says it is part of the curriculum to educate pupils on how to keep safe at school, on their way back home, and while at home. “We advise them to walk in groups, avoid lonely and dark places and we also tell them to make alarms in case someone is trying to take them,†she adds.
She says ‘peer say messages’ are communicated to the students during assemblies everyday. However, she says the school has a problem with parents who send different boda boda men to pick their children.
Buganda Road Primary School
The gatekeeper is chatting with a lady cook. As I walk in, he briefly stares at me but continues with his conversation.
I remind him of his duty to check visitors. He calls me back after I have moved a few metres into the school compound. He then hands me a book to sign and reluctantly holds my bag but hands it back to me without checking it.
The head teacher declined to comment on the security of the school.