Public and private schools will be shut down if they do not renew their fire and safety certificates with the Civil Defense within one month, said Noura Al-Fayez, Deputy Minister of Education. She said a circular to this effect was sent to public and private schools, minority community schools and language institutes. The circular stipulates that the owner of the school building should have the safety certificates renewed with the Civil Defense within a month or else the school will be shut down at the end of the first semester. Once the safety certificate of a private school has been renewed, it should be sent to the Department of Private Schools within two weeks of the issue date. The circular stated that the committee of violations and penalties will visit schools in the next two weeks to ensure that they have valid safety certificates. Schools that do not have such certificates will be reported to the Deputy Minister and shut down. Meanwhile, Brig. Jameel Arbaeen, Director of Makkah City Civil Defense, told Okaz/Saudi Gazette that public and private schools have been banned from fixing bars on all windows because this prevents the Civil Defense from evacuating a building during a fire. Arbaeen urged the owners of schools to comply with safety measures to avoid being held responsible in the event of a fire. Schools should have safe emergency exits, alarm systems, reports showing that electric wires are safe and safety equipment approved by the Civil Defense. __
