The Ministry of Education has started linking the country's 34,000 schools to an electronic safety system that would provide alerts if the lives of students are in danger.

The system will be linked to senior ministry officials and Minister of Education Prince Khaled Al-Faisal.

Sources said the program would enable male and female principals to report emergencies immediately to officials. If officials do not respond directly, a report would be sent electronically to senior leaders at the ministry based on its gravity and importance. The system will ensure quicker reaction times to hazardous situations, and reduce red tape.

This comes in the wake of some ministry officials describing rented private schools as "time bombs," because of lack of safety and security measures and the absence of firms providing these services. Nasser Al-Khathlan, a security and safety official at the ministry, said a big problem is the lack of safety personnel. He said each inspector has to undertake 300 school visits. The ministry is now trying to reduce this to 159 visits.