Kingston, Jamaica (McKoy’s News) – Violence-Prone Schools: The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Jamaican government has come together in an agreement to assist in diffusing outbreaks of violence in some high schools in Jamaica.
One such way is the USAID funding majority of a US$4M programme which will see the Ministry of Education getting 130 hand-held metal detectors and five walk-through metal scanners to enhance efforts to improve safety and security in violence-prone schools.
Project coordinator at the National Education Trust (NET), says figures from the School Safety and Security Unit of the Education Ministry show that over 987 weapons were seized in schools during the 2014/15 school year. The NET says that represented a 17 percent reduction from the 1,186 weapons seized in the previous year.
In a ceremony scheduled for next Wednesday, the metal detectors will be handed over to the education ministry. The devices will be distributed to the schools worst-affected by the in-schools’ violence.