Schools to be linked with Civil Defense for quick rescue operations

The Ministry of Education plans to ensure greater safety in schools by linking school sites with security and rescue departments, for speedy intervention on occasions of emergency. “There will be no laxity in the matter of safety and security in our schools. Schools are a great responsibility and any error in matters related to safety and security is unacceptable,” the Deputy Minister of Education, Khaled Al-Sabti said in a workshop on safety in schools Sunday. Speaking in the event, Deputy Minister of Education for women, Noura Al-Faiz, stressed the need for shortcutting formalities in favor of speedier action by safety agencies on occasions of emergencies in schools. The move will be of great relief to children’s parents and school authorities, especially when floods are predicted in some parts of the country. Every minute is valuable for Civil Defense to implement security plans in disaster prone areas. School principals have already consented to the government’s decision to suspend classes when natural calamities are anticipated. In another development universities and schools suspended classes and sent back their students home when heavy to moderate rains fell in various parts of Madinah province at noon Sunday. The Taiba University in Yanbu campus also sent students home, fearing huge floods in the area. Spokesman of the Presidency for Meteorology and Environmental Protection (PME) said the precise volume of rain in Madinah cannot be estimated as the initial indications only suggest a thunderstorm and dust storms. “The advance warning system in the PME indicates signs of heavy rain until the evening in the coastal areas of Madinah province,” he said on Sunday. According to the civil defense sources, heavy showers in the sub-governorates of Yanbu, Al-Ais and nearby villages did not cause any serious accidents. In Jeddah, schools had poor attendance in the morning, while other schools chose to send students home early. The Jeddah Civil Defense texted 3.8 million residents on their mobile phones, in collaboration with the STC, Mobily and Zain. The PME is watching for signs of heavy rain around the clock with the help of 14 advanced warning system radars in Jeddah. It is also receiving satellite images every five minutes from European and American sources. In another incident, a Pakistani worker was electrocuted after falling in a rain-flood “ditch” in a construction site in Taif Saturday night. From : Arabnews