By Emmanuel Joseph
The Ministry of Education has announced that a safety and security plan, already in the works for public schools, will include how emergency drills and simulations are to be carried out, in the wake of Wednesday’s lockdown fiasco at the Springer Memorial School.
At a ministry news conference on Thursday, further details also emerged on what led to the outbreak of mass panic among the students of the all-girls secondary school.
Several students were apparently in the wrong place at the wrong time when a group of masked men, presumably armed, descended on the Government Hill, St Michael school, according to the committee that organised the drill.
Chief Education Officer Dr Ramona Archer-Bradshaw addressed journalists on the safety plan immediately following the ministry’s discussions with Springer Memorial principal Cheryl Gill and her deputy June Moe to ascertain why the security drill resulted in panic and trauma among several students.
Dr Archer-Bradshaw said that after listening to the principal and the deputy and acknowledging the “well-intentioned” simulation, there were some things that could have been done differently.
“So, we came away from the meeting with lessons learnt,” she told reporters. “I want to say at this point also that the Ministry of Education is working on a safety and security plan… and drills and how they are conducted will be part of that plan.
“We have standing meetings to discuss the plan and those meetings started about three months ago. So, we have that on the cards with regard to how drills should be conducted at school.”
Chief Fire Officer Errol Maynard who attended the press conference provided the ministry with advice on what it should include in its new school security policy as a result of Wednesday’s events.
“We now know, in writing your policy, you have children at the school who do not tolerate stress,” he said. “That must be accounted for and prepared for. You know that there are children who easily go into panic attacks, and then you have to make sure that you can cater to that because that is not only informative for the drill but any other stressful situation that might occur at the school.”
Maynard said the fire service is ready and willing to assist the ministry and schools with drills and the proposed plan.
“The Barbados Fire Service is always willing to assist not only in fire drills but our officers are trained to cater to any hazard,” he said while urging the school not to allow Wednesday’s episode to stop it from conducting the simulations.
In her turn to speak to journalists, Gill acknowledged that all the protocols were not followed in carrying out the exercise, but gave an assurance that future drills will be done according to best practices.
“The exercise [on] the day was intended to be a very important part of safety procedures that schools carry out all the time to ensure that we are prepared to deal with various scenarios,” the principal said, recalling a “successful” earthquake drill done in February.
“Of course, we would have learnt some lessons from the fall-out from this [Wednesday’s] exercise, and going forward, we would have our meetings, we would have our reviews, and we will ensure that future drills will be done according to the exact protocols.
“But we will take our time and make sure that our staff and our students are well informed, and also that we work with the related agencies to carry out the exercise in the correct way,” she added.
When Barbados TODAY visited the school earlier in the morning, several parents said they did not believe classes should have resumed so soon after the incident. A few parents also insisted they should have been informed about the simulation before it happened.
Reporting at the press conference on the status of those students who turned up for school on Thursday, Gill said: “We have spoken to our students who arrived on the campus this morning, and we have had in place a well-organised system for students to be supervised by their teachers, and also receive counselling at the same time.”
She reported that the students who were back at classes appeared “very calm and very orderly”.
“We are satisfied that they have shown that they are comfortable on the campus today,” said the principal. “They were moving around as normal…and we are positive that today’s experience would be a good one for them.”
Gill sought to assure the parents, guardians and the public in general that the school’s management has the safety of the students and staff at heart.
She reiterated that none of the children sustained any serious injuries and one student who complained that her foot felt “strange” was taken for medical attention by her father.
Gill said she spoke to the father Wednesday night and he informed her that the child was fine. That student, she disclosed, was at school on Thursday.
Counselling is to be arranged for children who were not at school on Thursday and needed individual attention, the principal said.
Also represented at the news conference were the Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT) and the Barbados Secondary Teachers’ Union (BSTU). Both BSTU president Mary-Anne Redman and BUT general secretary Herbert Gittens fully supported the safety drill but said they looked forward to better outcomes based on the school principal’s assurance that the protocols would be followed in the future.
In a revelation to reporters of further details on the lockdown drill, organised with the support of both the Barbados Police Service and the Barbados Defence Force, Redman revealed the point at which the planned event descended into chaos.
The BSTU president explained that, unfortunately, a few students were in the corridor and saw what was happening on the compound, triggering the panic which created a domino effect.
Redman revealed the details in the findings of Springer’s Health and Safety Committee which organised the drill. The findings were reported to her by the BSTU’s representative on the committee.
She disclosed that the written instructions which were distributed to staff required all students and staff to be in their classrooms lying on the floors behind barricaded doors, and silent.
Redman said the written instructions on what to do during the drill were given to staff before the event.
Archer-Bradshaw expressed regret at Wednesday’s events but pledged her ministry’s backing for all school principals in the execution of their duties while recognising that the best-laid plans could go awry.
emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb
