DepEd: Security guards found in only 3 of 10 schools

MANILA, Philippines — Only three in 10 schools have security guards, a Department of Education (DepEd) official said Thursday during discussions on the proposed School Safety Act.

DepEd Undersecretary for Governance and Operations Malcolm Garma presented the data to the Senate committee on basic education during a hearing on several student-protection bills following recent fatal incidents.

“Three out of 10 of our schools have security guards – 31.7 percent or around 15,328 schools,” Garma told the panel when asked by its chairperson, Sen. Bam Aquino.

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The security personnel are funded not only through DepEd’s Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses but also by local government units or parent-teacher associations.

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READ: School shooting kills 3 students in Tacloban

In light of the Tacloban school shooting, Garma noted that only two security guards were manning the gate at the time, with none roaming the premises.

“Regardless of the presence of the security guards, they still got through… One of the reasons would be familiarity. The children were quite familiar, so they probably weren’t checked,” he added.

Aquino then asked if bags are checked.

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Garma explained that bag checks are random because a queue would form if every bag entering the school premises were inspected.

Lack of CCTVs

Garma also reported that few schools have closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras.

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“Four out of 10 schools have already installed CCTVs,” he said.

Of those with CCTVs, 80 percent (or 13,802 schools) have fewer than 10 cameras, 14.2 percent have 11 to 19 cameras, and only 6.14 percent have more than 20.

Garma said the Tacloban San Jose National High School has only eight working CCTVs.

“We saw the CCTV working… Although there is one aimed at the gate, there are blind spot areas in the school that really have none.)

READ: Alfred Vargas eyes CCTVs in QC public schools amid safety issues

Aquino then asked if personnel were assigned to monitor the real-time CCTV feed in the principal’s office.

Garma answered, “It’s purely recording,” explaining that the principal may have been too busy to monitor the feed himself.

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Later, Aquino expressed hope to include tighter and more thorough campus surveillance in his proposed School Safety Act. /mcm