By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

EDUCATION Minister Glenys Hanna Martin has announced a new security protocol for the upcoming school year: a student identification card system designed to restrict school access exclusively to authorised individuals.

Revealing the plan in the House of Assembly on Thursday, Mrs Hanna Martin outlined a strategy focused on identification and access control, emphasising the need to safeguard “sterile zones” on school campuses.

“These protocols will ensure that only individuals authorised by school executives will be allowed entry to ‘sterile zones,’” she said.

The Ministry of Education is collaborating with the Department of Information and Technology to implement the new ID system.

She said the ID cards will include critical personal and academic information about each student, adding that such measures are now essential.

“These measures have become necessary in light of a number of incidents involving unauthorised entries by students and adults that compromise school safety,” she said.

The minister underscored that schools must be zero-tolerance zones for threats and unauthorised activity.

Consequences for student misconduct may include assignment to suspension centres, participation in Programme

Sure, or, in severe cases, placement within the juvenile justice system.

Mrs Hanna Martin also reported that school related incidents declined by 17 percent nationwide last year, attributing the improvement to coordinated efforts among School Resource Officers (SROs), security personnel,

administrators, and parents.

While data for the current academic year is still being compiled, she noted a visible decline in fights and other on-campus disruptions.