KARACHI / MULTAN: As the threat of attacks on ‘soft targets’ looms in the wake of the deadly Taliban attack on the Army Public School (APS) in Peshawar that left at least 131 children dead, federal and provincial governments are taking measures to provide security to educational institutions.

As part of these measures emergency training was provided to staff and students of different schools to prepare them to face any crisis, says a Dawn.com report by Atika Rehman and Hasnain Ejaz.

On the directives of the Punjab government, rescue officials and representatives of the civil defence force, bomb disposal squad (BDS) and security agencies arranged emergency drills at Public School Multan and security training sessions for students and teachers.

At a drill, BDS personnel wearing special suits demonstrated how to locate and defuse a bomb. The drill included ways of helping ‘injured’ people while security and rescue personnel `evacuated’ a building and the adjoining area.

The students who participated in the training expressed their resolve to combat militancy and said they were not afraid of terrorists.

“We have received training and now we will use this if the need arises,” said one student at the Multan school.

Rescue officials also trained students to provide medical aid to the people injured in a terrorist attack.

“We are being asked to provide emergency training to students. Girls’ schools are a priority because females usually get more panicky than boys,” said Dr Rizwan, district emergency officer of Rescue 1122.

In Karachi, the Sindh police demonstrated on Thursday self-defence and skills to use weapons for teachers and students of the Mama Parsi School at the Razzaqabad Training Centre.

Besides emergency medical assistance, students and teachers were trained to evacuate a building if a situation requires that.

Special Security Unit (SSU) spokesperson Tahira Tariq, who is leading the campaign, said it was part of the Sindh Police’s Corporate Social Responsibility programme.

“We were already training university students and staff before the Peshawar attack, but since then scores of schools have approached us,” she said. The next step is to train field journalists who she feels face the risk of exposure to violence.

“I have analysed this from a psychological perspective,” Ms Tariq said. “The idea is that once we face our fears, they will go away.”

“If a student suddenly sees or encounters a terrorist he should know what to do... this training will build the confidence level of the student. She, however, maintained that there was no guarantee that there would be no mishaps after such training sessions.

SP Maqsood Memon whose department is in charge of the campaign told Dawn that the objective was to equip teachers and staff for such situations.

Teachers in Khyber Pakhtun-khwa were given firearms training last month and were allowed to carry guns into classrooms in a bid to strengthen security.

“Carrying firearms for every teacher is not obligatory, but all those who want to carry firearms to schools willingly will be provided with permits,” KP Education Minister Atif Khan said.

After the terrorist attack on the APS, the KP government issued special security guidelines to schools, colleges and universities in the province.

Although guards were required to keep guns, teachers showed seriousness in getting training on how to use a gun if `they need to defend the children’ in an emergency situation.

Published in Dawn, February 20th, 2015

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