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Singapore schools starting to carry out anti-terror ‘lockdown’ drills

SINGAPORE — For the first time, schools here are conducting “lockdown” drills, with teachers and students locking themselves in classrooms and hiding from sight, in case an intruder with heinous intention enters the premises.

A simulated scenario of an explosion and evacuation during an attack by gunmen at Esplanade-Theatres on the Bay on Sept 2, 2016 conducted by The Singapore Police Force (SPF) and the Singapore Civil Defence Force. Photo: Nuria Ling/TODAY

A simulated scenario of an explosion and evacuation during an attack by gunmen at Esplanade-Theatres on the Bay on Sept 2, 2016 conducted by The Singapore Police Force (SPF) and the Singapore Civil Defence Force. Photo: Nuria Ling/TODAY

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SINGAPORE — For the first time, schools here are conducting “lockdown” drills, with teachers and students locking themselves in classrooms and hiding from sight, in case an intruder with heinous intention enters the premises.

The move marks a shift in schools’ response to emergency situations, from what used to be a focus on fire drills. And it comes as the Government recently rallied industries, businesses and workplaces to prepare and brace for a terror attack, under the national movement for such efforts, SGSecure.

In response to TODAY’s queries, a Ministry of Education (MOE) spokesperson said that in line with SGSecure, schools “have enhanced their emergency drills to be better prepared to respond to a terrorist attack on school premises or in the vicinity”.

“Some drills are also conducted in consultation with the Home Team (from the Ministry of Home Affairs), so that there is a community approach to managing such incidents,” the spokesperson added.

At least three schools have conducted the new lockdown drills since the start of this year, TODAY learnt. 

Concord Primary School did it in the first quarter, West View Primary School held one in September, and most recently, Meridian Junior College’s drill was on Oct 20. 

MOE declined to reveal how many schools have conducted the lockdown exercise to date.

It provided rough guidelines on the lockdown procedures, but principals and teachers who spoke to TODAY on condition of anonymity said that schools are given the autonomy to customise the exercises as they deem fit.

KEEP VERY QUIET

In schools that have rolled out the drills, staff members and students were briefed days before the exercise. The simulation of an attack starts after the school’s general office relays a code that “an intruder” is in the compound.

Teachers and students are to lock the classrooms, close the windows and switch off all lights and fans. Students are also told to put their mobile phones on silent mode or switch them off. “My teacher said that the ringing of phones might give our location away,” West View Primary School’s student Reagon Yeo, 12, said. 

Students are told to stay away from the windows and hide. In some of the schools, students may either crouch behind cupboards or push the tables to the walls nearest the doors and take cover.
Once the premises are secured, teachers and students will be informed of this through another code. 

In all, the drills took close to an hour to complete.

A teacher from West View Primary, who declined to be named, told TODAY that students were reminded before the lockdown exercise that they have to take it seriously.

“We link it back to reality, so that they do not see the drill in isolation. Then we touch on how they should behave in an emergency situation, like keeping quiet, taking care of their own safety and looking out for their friends,” the teacher said. “Terrorism acts are taking place even in our neighbouring countries. We need to be prepared.”

Emergency preparedness programmes have been in place since the 1990s, with every school having an “emergency structure” follow in the event of civil emergencies and contingencies, the MOE spokesperson said.

Fire drills were commonly conducted under such programmes. Later on, it expanded to include scenarios such as lab explosions, or the exposure to hazardous chemicals. 

CHANGING TIMES

There is a need for such exercises to evolve in response to recent global developments, another teacher said. She did not want to be identified and said that her school, which is in central part of the island, has yet to conduct an anti-terror drill.

“Just like how policies cannot be cast in stone, likewise for such exercises. We need to keep revising them to move in tandem with what’s happening (around us),” she said.

Lockdown drills have been the norm in schools in the United States, following mass shootings that had taken taken place in Columbine High School in Colorado in 1999 and Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012.

Parents in Singapore who spoke to TODAY said that introducing such drills in school would raise awareness among students on the dangers of terrorism and how they should respond when an attack occurs.

Housewife Azlin Mohamed, 44, whose daughter is a Primary 2 student at West View Primary School, said that the lessons from such exercises would “stick with them as they grow older”. 

Private tutor Joyce Ong, who is in her 40s and mother of a Secondary 2 student in Nan Hua High School, is supportive as well. “Many places such as Changi Airport are only starting to do simulated terrorist attacks... So, it’s good that schools are doing it, too.”

Primary 6 student Yeo Kai Sheng from West View Primary School said that a terror attack is a “scary thought”, but the situation could worsen if civilians do not know how to respond. 

Zoey Lim, a first-year student at Meridian Junior College, said that she would probably “freak out” if there was a terrorist attack in her school. This was before she attended the drill. “It was good that we went through it,” she said.

In getting people to think ahead and hone their instincts for such dangers, the authorities have not been letting up on their efforts.

Just this month, new laws were passed for building owners and developers to better protect iconic buildings as well as those that house essential services, as part of the Infrastructure Protection Bill. At the same time, the police announced that all security guards must undergo counter-terrorism training by 2020.

Earlier this year, Parliament amended the Public Order Act, which requires organisers of events with large crowds to step up on security measures, such as putting up vehicle barricades and deploying armed security officers.

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