DAMMAM: The Ministry of Education has made it compulsory for women principals, deputy principals and supervisors in all girls' schools to undergo special training in dealing with emergency cases. The training will be done in collaboration with the Directorate General of Civil Defense. Three days have been allocated for each program, which will be organized in the women's supervision centers and education training halls in schools. The ministry has warned school mistresses not to ignore the directive and said that it would not accept any excuses to avoid the training or for not being punctual. Those school mistresses will be allowed to devote their time to the program until its completion. Aside from firefighting, the training includes safety, evacuation and rescue methods. The ministry said each participant is expected to prepare a procedural plan after completing the course and to convey the experience she has gained from the program to the school staff, employees and students. The lessons learned from the training must also be put into practice. The ministry said the participants will bear the responsibility to execute the training plan and to disseminate the program through leaflets, school announcement and class activities under the supervision of female supervisors. The ministry has formed committees to help the participants deal with emergencies in schools and come up with recommendations for the approval of the Girls' Emergency Committee. The goal is to ensure that the training could be used to protect female students from any hazards like fire, suffocation, stampede and collapsing roofs. A ministry source said the ministry has laid down a well-studied mechanism with the help of Shariah, health and security bodies.
