Schools will be safer and help for school emergencies will come faster now that the Department of Education (DepEd) has been integrated into the country’s Unified 911 system.
Observing National School Safety Week, Education Secretary Sonny Angara and Interior Secretary Juanito Victor “Jonvic” Remulla led a joint school safety audit and safety drill at Bangkal National High School in Makati City on Wednesday, October 14 as they signed a Joint Memorandum Circular that deployed barangay tanods in school premises.
The initiative hopes to address campus security concerns by tapping local government units to augment school protection, especially for schools that have not hired professional security personnel.
The NGA 911 linkage between the DepEd and the DILG enables schools to avail of the technology and gadgets that the DILG is currently using.
Under the agreement, schools can coordinate with barangays to request the deployment of barangay tanods to maintain order and security within school perimeters as community partners. They will align with school authorities and law enforcement to ensure child protection, learner rights, and school safety.
Integrated into the school safety effort is the cutting-edge emergency response technology provided by public safety technology company NGA 911 to the Unified 911 program of the DILG. The new technology now includes DepEd in the Unified 911’s safety lookout so quick-response interventions and solutions can be applied in the event of school violence and other emergencies.
NGA 911 Philippines Country Head Robert Llaguno, longtime advocate for a national public safety system, revealed that the linkage between the DepEd and the DILG enables schools to avail of the technology and gadgets that the DILG is currently using. He mentioned communication devices that allow conversation through voice and video so that callers can see the responders at the other end of the line. Responders may send photos and videos to the callers as well.
According to Llaguno, the new system of cooperation will activate and follow a parallel workflow process. As emergencies happen, the report is sent simultaneously to both the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the DepEd so they can respond jointly and make faster decisions about the call.
The incident also gets processed and validated by the Department of Education’s Central, Regional and Schools Division Office so report processing that normally takes weeks to complete can be finished in a day. Information storage is centralized.
An “Active Threat Drill” was also conducted at Bangkal High School before the MOA Signing to simulate what students, teachers and security should do in case of a school shooting. Aside from government officials and school personnel, present at the event were Makati Mayor Nancy Binay and the barangay tanods that patrol the schools.
Llaguno said “A truly effective emergency response system requires the combined efforts of the national and local governments together with private and public sectors, and civilian and uniformed services.” Llaguno said this synergistic approach is needed to combat the big problem of abuses and violence committed in schools.
