Building better futures: What it means to make our schools safe and secure

Safeguarding: The Global Challenge

UNICEF has a vision of a world where all children are free from violence, exploitation and neglect, with three key aims: for all children to grow in a protective environment; for children living in situations of risk to receive targeted support; and for children receiving violations to receive services (source: UNICEF Child Protection Strategy 2021-30). 

With decades of progress under the Convention of the Rights of the Child, recent trends present a worrying picture, as Covid19 has had significant adverse impacts on children. UNICEF reports that 1.2 billion children live in countries with complex emergencies; that 34 million children are currently displaced by natural disasters, putting them at risk of violence, exploitation and abuse; that one in ten children are in child labour, with 79 million of them in hazardous work. 

On a global scale: 1 billion children experiencing physical, emotional or sexual violence every year (source: UNICEF). Whilst the scale of the statistics is shocking, the global  safeguarding in schools situation is equally distressing.

Safeguarding Our Students

A snapshot of safeguarding shows that 150 million students suffer peer-to-peer violence globally, whilst a staggering 720 million live in countries with no legal protection from adult violence at school. The continued practice of caning children remains an obscene method of control in our schools worldwide (source: UNICEF, 2021).

Despite this backdrop, schools are also places of safety for children, keeping children away from exploitation and violence. The Covid closures exposed children to violence, child marriage or child labour (source: UNICEF, Global Annual Results 2021).

Whilst protecting children from all forms of abuse is a central focus, safeguarding embraces broader areas: governance and leadership, policies and procedures, reporting and referring, risk audits and registers, safer recruitment, case management, safety and security, and having a culture of safeguarding. With developments in digital learning and a broader interest in holistic education, safeguarding students covers educational activities within and beyond school.

Shaped by the Present

Statutory advances (under the Equality Act 2010 and the Children & Families Act 2014) have formed the basis of much progress in Bangladesh, alongside significant examples of best practices in NGOs and leading businesses. Organisations with global networks set consistent commitments to valuing and listening to children and ensuring safe employment practices. UNICEF has impressive evidence of action in Bangladesh against a challenging backdrop, as its recent data report highlights that 56% children under age five  have thier birth registered, 51% women (20-24 years) are married or in inion before 18 years, 7% children (5-17 years) are engaged in child labour, 89% children (1-14 years) experienced physical punishment or psychological  aggression by caregivers. 

The British Council, for example, has identified key areas for advancement: notably, the empowerment of girls and young women in rural communities. Islamic Relief has a framework with policies on safeguarding and child protection, people at risk and dignity at work, prevention of abuse, exploitation and harassment, and code of conduct. 

There is much still to do, however.  UNICEF reports only 56% of under-fives in Bangladesh are birth registered, with millions of identified absent children. This creates issues in tracking their progress and performance in education, as well as health and well-being. 

Around half of the children with disabilities do not go to school, depriving them of education, social interaction and imposing a life of loneliness (Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, 2023). Survey results show that only 35% of children with disabilities are enrolled in secondary school: those that do attend school have a two-year academic lag. These deprivations are safeguarding issues.

UNICEF reports that nine out of ten children have suffered physical or psychological punishment by parents and teachers, and millions have been subject to abuse, violence and exploitation. Young people are married off prematurely or sent to work at an early age as a family survival strategy. UNICEF estimates around 7% of 5-17-year-olds have been child labourers, often in hazardous contexts, with a backlog of 23,000 cases involving children jammed up in the justice system.

Achieving Impact Now

Our long-term aim is to build safe, happy and successful schools to meet the country's evolving needs and to see collaboration between the public and private spheres as key to meeting our ends. With safeguarding, there must be a pace to our actions, to make things happen now. Setting an agreed standard for safeguarding protects children now as it also builds a better future.

Safeguarding specialists are doing life-changing work with the means to achieve positive outcomes in months, not years. The Safeguarding Alliance has worked with governments and school systems globally to build country-specific national safeguarding systems using a systematic framework.

First comes the need for an environmental scan of safeguarding awareness in schools in Bangladesh, a statistically significant picture of cultural awareness of safeguarding. This would lead to a national framework for Keeping Children Safe in Bangladesh and a parallel national safeguarding policy. Such a policy would be practically oriented with bespoke resources for use in schools. Lastly comes the roll-out of the policy, initially on a pilot basis, to build a secure national safeguarding inspection system with its own training section. 

Given the diverse nature of the education system, building a system at scale requires a build-operate-transfer model. Training the trainer is key, focused on a contextual understanding of safeguarding, an explanation of safeguarding standards and, most importantly, a focus on proven implementation strategies (source: The Safeguarding Alliance).

My school, Haileybury Bhaluka, will play its part as a hub for sharing strong practices, acting as a centre to support other schools across all sectors. Collaborative approaches to raising safeguarding standards are imperative.

The short-term impact of private-public partnerships complements the long-term success of a national safeguarding system. These partnerships must have key pillars to create a culture of safeguarding: setting the standards with governors, owners and school leaders; producing policies and procedures that work in context; using case studies to shape practices for recruitment, reporting and referrals; and creating an understanding of risk in education contexts via risk audits and registers.

In building better futures, we move forward together.

Simon O'Grady is the Founding Headmaster of Haileybury Bhaluka, the first premier boarding school in Bangladesh. Having built outstanding schools on three continents, he draws on his leadership experience in a series of defining articles to reimagine education. A long-standing board member of The Council of British International Schools, he influenced standards for safeguarding in COBIS schools worldwide and has advised the Child Exploitation & Online Protection Centre, UK.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Business Standard.