New Safety Standards for Schools

Yesterday, new amendments to the Law on General Education of Georgia entered into force, strengthening security in schools and preventing offences among schoolchildren.

The amendments were introduced in response to the so-called Khorava St. murders where, last December, two high school boys were killed by their classmates after school in an alleyway fight that supposedly started inside the school building. The Ministry of Internal Affairs said that the amendments aim to increase the independence and authority of resource officers in public schools, allowing for more adequate responses to events that occur in schools. The role of a school resource officer is to prevent and deescalate conflicts in schools.

All public-school buildings are also mandated to install video surveillance inside and around their perimeters. Additionally, school resource officers will now be appointed by the head of the resource officers’ service rather than by the director of the school, as was previously done.

By Samantha Guthrie

Photo: Parliament of Georgia

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