Basseterre: St. Kitts, Tuesday, June 18, 2024: School Safety Officers throughout the Federation participated in a ceremonial opening of the Introductory School Safety Course facilitated by the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) on Monday June 17 at the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) Conference Room.
Chief Education Officer, Mr. Francil Morris gave brief remarks,
“Just a few months ago, our Ministry of Education launched its National Safe School Policy, emphasizing that it is critical to ensure the security and safety of all within our educational institutions. This week-long training underscores our Ministry’s commitment to equipping school personnel with the essential knowledge and skills needed to ensure that our schools remain safe environments for learning and development. I wish to express the Ministry’s appreciation to CDEMA and our facilitator Mr. Khodra and our other partners for their invaluable contributions to school safety. Their expertise and resources are instrumental as we strive to promote security and safety in our educational institutions”, he said.
Senior Programme Officer, Safe School (CDEMA) and course facilitator, Mr. Bernez Khodra in his remarks, provided attendees with an overview of the school safety course and the benefits to be derived.
“The safe school programme is aligned with CEDMA’s 2014 -2024 Strategic Plan and also our 2022 – 2027 Strategic Plan and the Comprehensive Disaster Management (CDM) Strategy. This strategy contributes to the overarching goals of reducing vulnerabilities and enhancing resilience in the education sector. The school safety course gives the opportunity where you as participants will become the ambassadors for the School Safety Programme here in St. Kitts and Nevis. It will also afford the opportunity for you as participants to become instructors or facilitators so that we [CDEMA] can have sustainability of this programme not just in St. Kitts and Nevis, but throughout other islands across the region to pass on knowledge and skills.”
“I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to all our partners including the Ministry of Education in St. Kitts and Nevis. I would like to thank especially the School Safety team, led by Dr. Esdaille, Mr. Morris, Mrs. Matthew, Mr. Richards, Mr. Jeffers and Mrs. Lestrad from Nevis. I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank those persons because without them we would not be here today. They are committed, and they are dedicated to ensuring that you the participants get the opportunity, you also get knowledge and skills to go back into your schools, and into your communities to make a difference. I also wish to thank Mr. Samuels and Mr. Deir and their teams from the National Disaster Office. I also wish to thank UNICEF for their continued financial and technical support, the Caribbean Development Bank, the Government of Norway, and our numerous partners and stakeholders who have played a pivotal role in advancing the Safe School Programme”, expressed Mr. Khodra with a spirit of gratitude.
The Safe School Training Course started Monday, June 17, and will end on Friday June 21.
