THE Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), in collaboration with the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) on Monday kicked off a workshop on 'Emergency Preparedness and Response' for school administrators and the School Based Management Committees (SBMC), to equip them with skills on how to rapidly respond to emergency situations in the school system.According to the organisers, the workshop, held at the Peninsula Resort, Ajah in Lagos, was intended to draw attention to areas of laxity and the lack of a functional mechanism to respond to challenges emanating from a crisis situation, which may be natural or man-made within the school environment.The Head of Social Mobilisation, Mr. Abiodun Adefuye stressed the need for all stakeholders in the system to be well informed and become an effective instrument of change in any situation.By involving members of the SBMC and school administrators, he noted that their exposure to the skill acquisition programme would make them more functional in their response to challenges in the school system.Also, UNICEF Education Specialist, Mrs. Justina Onifade, observed that although the Lagos State Government has been quite efficient in dealing with emergencies, it is yet to replicate it in the education sector.She said: 'Emergency preparedness is very important in the school system. Each time there are incidences of flood, fire, collapsed building and other setbacks, response to the schools is usually very slow and children are deprived the opportunity of going to school for weeks. So what we are proposing is for government and other stakeholders to make a commitment towards prepositional supplies and other alternative arrangements, to ensure that the children are brought back to the school system as soon as possible.'While also expressing regret that issues of emergency response are taken lightly in the school system, she called on the schools to make provision for a safe haven, that would cater for the needs of the school in times of emergency.'Provision can be made for books, tents, furniture and other educational supplies. Presently, there is nothing readily available to face emergency or crisis in the schools, including an emergency during sporting activities,' she said.Declaring the workshop open, the Executive Chairman of Lagos SUBEB, Mrs. Gbolahan Daodu said the workshop 'offers a unique opportunity for the board to meet and interact with members of the School Based Management Committee in relation to the management of education in Lagos State.'As part of its strategy to ensure the development of education in the state, she said the government has continuously enlisted the support of community members to develop and own their schools by taking school governance to them.She said: 'With 154 SBMCs carrying out various activities, Lagos State, through SUBEB and other agencies, are committed to providing qualitative and functional education for children in the state.'Daodu also averred that advocacy and sensitisation of the community on education, monitoring and provision of counterpart funds, especially on UBE Self-Help projects, were areas where intervention and successes have been recorded so far. While reiterating the board's commitment to ensuring that every child in the state realises his or her potential by accessing basic education, she observed that the workshop forms part of the plans to achieve the much-needed development in the education sector.On the significance of the workshop, she said:'It is a known fact that hazards do not warn or give notice of its insurgence and it has been observed that whenever there is any crisis or hazards, the children, especially school pupils are often the worst affected. This is because apart from being the most vulnerable, they are always helpless to mitigate the effect of such things on themselves.'By collaborating with the SBMC, she said the goals of the workshop would be better appreciated because those who are close to the children and also responsible for their upbringing would be well informed of how to manage crisis/hazardous situations and minor accidents in schools.The SUBEB boss also expressed concern over the infiltration of hoodlums into the schools. 'Huge sums of money are being committed to revive standards in the public school system, yet, contractors are being disturbed and threatened such that there are delays and damage to some of the structures in the school,' she noted.
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