French schools are to hold three security drills per year — including one in which a mock assailant enters their premises — as the French government ramps up security measures after a string of deadly attacks.
French Minister of Education Najat Vallaud-Belkacem and French Minister of the Interior Bernard Cazeneuve on Wednesday announced a series of measures to improve how schools and children handle terror threats.
Students are to be taught how to hide or to escape, depending on the situation and where they are.
All students aged 13 and 14 and class representatives will get a basic training on life-saving measures.
Vallaud-Belkacem said, as of now, only 30 percent of students are trained.
In pre-school and kindergarten, for children aged two to six, no mention of an attack or a danger should be made, but children must be taught to hide and keep quiet through games, Vallaud-Belkacem said.
“It’s not a question of succumbing to panic or into paranoia, but simply to face our responsibilities,” Vallaud-Belkacem said.
Cazeneuve said that the plan is aimed at “preventing the risk of an attack and at the same time guaranteeing a serene atmosphere in schools.”
Other security measures are already in place since deadly attacks in Paris last year. Some police forces patrol in school areas and parents and students are requested to avoid gathering near schools and systematically report any suspicious behavior or object.
School principals will hold meetings with parents to detail the security measures at the beginning of the school year next month.
The French government is to provide 50 million euros (US$56.2 million) to local councils in charge of the school buildings to help them pay for security equipment such as video door phones and new alarm systems.
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