22 schools shut for lack of safety

A tripartite committee has come up with the recommendations to close 22 public schools for boys and girls in Jeddah because of lack of safety standards. Director General of Education in the Jeddah Governorate Abdullah Al-Thaqfi said that the committee came up with this proposal after inspecting the schools. The committee is made up of members from the Education Department, Civil Defense and Jeddah police. Currently the team is inspecting safety standards of schools and also checking the level of the “quick evacuation procedures,” and making these schools safe for two shifts in a day — morning and evening classes. If the school buildings do not fulfill all the safety requirements, then the schools would be shifted to an alternative site that has all the safety standards. About rented schools, he said 43 percent of the total schools in Jeddah — more than 1,800 schools — are run from rented buildings and the department is planning to cut the numbers of rented buildings according to the ministry’s guidelines.