School guards are paid low salaries and usually live in a house attached to their school, so they can guard the school day and night. However, the low salaries on offer might be an obstacle in attracting security companies.
Maha Alwan, high school principal in Tabuk, said that it is very important to replace the old Saudi guards with a professional company. “The task of the company would be to guard the school day and night. It is important that they have a good accommodation near the school. The old Saudi gate guards are not up to the task anymore. My school has been burgled three times in the past,” said Alwan.
Rakda Al-Otawi, a Saudi teacher, said the current system of appointing school guards is outdated. “These gate guards are ignorant about first aid and how to deal with emergencies. Most of the time they are careless and refuse to take responsibility,” She explained. “Professional security companies are trained to face emergencies, and they know their tasks and responsibilities. They are also controlled and supervised by a parent company. Every school needs a security team inside and outside the school to keep order. The task of the security team inside the school is to control parents if they cross the line.”
Fatima Al-Ghamdi, also a Saudi teacher, said that gate guards have a great responsibility in protecting the school from intruders. She said, “Most of the time they are not available at the school because they go out on personal errands. Saudi school guards are old and that is a matter of concern. The majority of them cannot read and write and that causes us problems. They are too old to do any physical work, like carrying heavy stuff. At the end, we the teachers do it for them.”
Nihaya Al-Sehri, a school principal, said she is not against replacing the Saudi gate guards with a security company on condition that the personnel be given the proper training to do the job. She added, “The gate guards have become part of our school family, because they know every single teacher and student by name. The old ones should be retired, but those who are able to carry out the work should be trained.”
Abu Fahd, a Saudi parent who lives near a school compound, said one of the main concerns is robbery. According to him, hiring a professional security company would solve the problem. “Burglaries happen quite often, especially in summer when people are abroad on vacation. I called the police many times to report burglary. It is not logical that the government pays a large amount of money every year to equip schools and maintain them, just to have them burgled at the end of the year. A security company — if assigned to guard schools — will install surveillance cameras to protect the place. Time has changed and the time of old Saudi gate guards is over.”
Omar Abu Hashem, assistant manager for school affairs at the Ministry of Education in Tabuk, said the ministry concluded a recent study on school security. The study recommended that the security of schools and education establishments be assigned to a professional company. A professional security company will guard the school round the clock, unlike the old gate guards, who are already suffering from health problems, such as movement disorders and poor eyesight. They are also not available by the end of the day and on weekends.
Abu Hashem confirmed that school burglaries have become frequent, especially during weekends.
