The district education authorities have been instructed through a notification to ensure strict implementation of security measures in both government and private schools. The directives include enhanced monitoring of visitors, alertness of security staff during school hours and construction of eight-foot high boundary walls topped with barbed wire.
The schools have been ordered to ensure functional CCTV cameras, metal detectors, panic buttons and the use of a central entry and exit gate.
The department emphasised the enforcement of emergency standard operating procedures (SOPs), mock drills for students and staff, staged dispersal of students after school hours and the protection of water storage facilities. Authorities have warned that failure to comply with the instructions will result in strict disciplinary action.
However, thousands of schools. particularly in rural and semi-urban areas, either have no security guard or rely on untrained, unarmed personnel. In many institutions, guards are temporarily appointed, poorly paid, and lack training in handling emergency situations.
Speaking on the issue, Punjab Teachers Union General Secretary Rana Liaqat Ali said most school security guards were not armed and professionally trained, leaving them ineffective in high-risk scenarios.
He added that in several schools, guards and support staff were diverted to office duties, affecting the security measures.
“The government talks about CCTV cameras and panic buttons, but many schools in our area don’t even have a proper boundary wall,” a parent said.
A teacher said that while elite private schools may be able to afford compliance, low-fee private schools and government institutions struggle due to financial and administrative constraints.
A head teacher from South Punjab revealed that their school had received security instructions several times but additional funds or trained personnel had not been provided to implement them.
Security analysts argued that while physical measures like boundary walls and cameras are important, they cannot substitute for intelligence-based threat assessment, guard training and coordination with law enforcement agencies.
They stressed regular security audits, funding for guard recruitment and compulsory training programmes.
“Without addressing structural weaknesses such as the absence of trained, armed security personnel, the safety of students and staff remains uncertain,” said a schoolteacher, Malik Sajad.