Consultants are on island this week to be part of a broad-based stakeholder consultation with members of the National Safe Schools Committee.

The consultation brings together education officers, the police, and the Ministry of Health on the Model Safe Schools Programme, an initiative designed to incorporate comprehensive disaster risk management considerations into education sector policies.

The School Safety Coordinator with the Ministry of Education, Bernez Khodra, said the aim of the consultation will help develop the school safety policy for Saint Lucia.

The programme is being funded by the Caribbean Development Bank and implemented by the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA). It will also work to enhance the capacity of the Ministries of Education in Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, St. Kitts and Nevis, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines to mainstream comprehensive disaster risk management considerations in education sector policies, planning and operations.

Eleanor Jones is a Disaster Risk Management and Sustainable Development Strategist who has worked throughout the region. Her company, Environmental Solutions Ltd was contracted by CDEMA to undertake inspections of schools across the participating islands and to develop the safe schools policy.