MANAMA, 8 August 2004 — The first batch of 600 Bahraini school security guards began their training yesterday to prepare them to act as traffic control officers around 200 schools.
The guards, who are expected to complete the training prior to the start of the school session in September, are part of an ambitious program that aims to utilize them to control traffic around schools and act as “eyes” and “ears” for the General Directorate of Traffic (GDT) to ensure the safety of schoolchildren.
Maj. Mohammad ibn Dayna, the head of traffic safety awareness and public relations at the GDT, said that the program was in a trial phase and that the directorate would continue to deploy its policemen around schools.
“The new trainees will have the full support of the directorate when they are in the field,” he said. “This scheme is being used in developed countries and had proven to be a success.”
He added that the directorate wanted to utilize the new core of security guards being employed by the Ministry of Education to help increase traffic safety in and around schools.
“This new core is young, with an education level of secondary school or higher making them ideal for this program,” he said.
Dayna added that the program, which is being implemented for the first time in the region, was an extension of the community-policing concept adopted by the Ministry of Interior in recent months to increase community involvement in combating crime and protecting public peace.
“The security guards will have a direct link to the directorate through various committees set up at the schools and their suggestions and complaints of violators will be acted on,” he said.
“They are on the field and because of the nature of their job they are closer and more aware of their school’s traffic needs that might not be easily perceived by others.”
As part of the program the new recruits — who are guards at various schools from elementary to secondary — will eventually replace many of the traffic policemen presently stationed at schools.
The guards will undergo an intensive two-day training course at the GDT with 50 people taking part in each session. They are expected to complete their training within a month.
Reem Akbari who is a lecturer in the training course said that the first year of the program would be focusing on gathering data and evaluating the system to see how it could be improved. “The public needs to cooperate with the guards to make this program a success,” she said.
Akbari added that “as a society we needed to create the proper environment to protect the children against accidents.
“Children are being taught all the proper safety techniques at schools through various programs we conduct and they learn it well, but the minute they are out of school they forget about it as they rush to intermingle with their friends disregarding their safety.”
According to the 2003 GDT figures there were 27 accidents at the school entrances where children were injured. Six of those accidents involved serious injuries and half of them were elementary school pupils.
Almost 60 percent of the injured were from the elementary schools followed by 18.5 percent injuries from pupils in kindergartens.
