Four Thai ministries plan national school safety standards in 90 days
Following the violence at Debsirin Nonthaburi School, ministers outlined immediate psychological support, regular mental health checks and tighter security.
- Four Thai ministries are collaborating to develop "National School Safety Standards" to be completed and submitted to the Cabinet within 90 days, prompted by a violent school incident.
- The new standards will prioritize mental health with regular screenings for both students and teachers, an effective referral system for at-risk individuals, and psychological first aid training for staff.
- Enhanced security measures will be part of the framework, including emergency drills, systematic reviews of weak points like CCTV, and checks for illegal items at school entrances.
- The plan also introduces a "Zero Tolerance" policy for bullying, a dedicated reporting channel for safety concerns, and a "Safe Zone" for students.
Following the violent incident at Debsirin Nonthaburi School, four key ministries responsible for human capital development held a joint meeting to prevent a recurrence.
They are accelerating work on “National School Safety Standards” to be completed within 90 days, including regular mental health screening for students and teachers.
The meeting was led by Professor Yodchanan Wongsawat, Minister of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation, Prasert Jantararuangtong, Minister of Education, Nikorn Soemklang, Minister of Social Development and Human Security, and Julapun Amornvivat, Minister of Labour.
They met to establish emergency measures and a sustainable safety framework for schools nationwide.
Yodchanan said such a distressing incident must not happen again. The framework is divided into two main parts.
The first, the “School Reopening Plan”, is an emergency short-term measure focused on psychological recovery and initial safety screening.
It includes nationwide mental health support channels through the Department of Mental Health, including the 1323 hotline, a chat service and an appointment system.
Support will be coordinated with local psychologists from the Education Ministry, institutions under the Higher Education Ministry and the Social Development and Human Security Ministry.
Mental health volunteer teams will also be deployed to the affected school to provide proactive support to students, teachers and parents.
On the first day classes resume, psychological recovery activities will be held in line with international standards.
An order has also been issued to close permanently the classroom where the incident occurred.
A designated area will be created for registered parents to observe their children, with registration required for security.
Teachers and students severely affected psychologically will be allowed to transfer to other schools as appropriate, while temporary checks for illegal items will begin immediately at school entrances.
The “National School Safety Standards” are to be drawn up within 90 days and submitted to the Cabinet so that all ministries follow the same guidelines.
The long-term measures cover regular mental health screening for students and teachers and an effective system for referring at-risk students to specialist doctors.
They also include a Train the Trainer programme for guidance teachers and class advisers, equipping them to assess needs and provide basic psychological first aid, a reporting channel through the Rights Protection Centre on the Traffy Fondue platform, providing a “Safe Zone” where children can express concerns or report problems they cannot raise elsewhere, emergency drills covering a range of scenarios, systematic reviews of potential weak points, including closed-circuit television (CCTV) systems, and a “Zero Tolerance” principle under which bullying in schools will not be ignored.
Other measures include promoting moral values and stronger bonds between teachers and students, as well as rigorous screening of people and checks for illegal items before entry to educational institutions.
Yodchanan also urged parents to monitor their children’s behaviour and take them promptly to see a psychiatrist if they noticed anything unusual.
He stressed that seeing a psychiatrist was nothing to be ashamed of, but was the correct way to care for mental health.
Prasert disclosed that he was preparing a formal ministerial announcement authorising school administrators and teachers responsible for discipline to search the bags and belongings of students in at-risk groups to prevent them from carrying any type of weapon, including knives and guns.
He also ordered Debsirin Nonthaburi School to suspend classes throughout next week to assess the situation and improve its internal measures.
He also ordered Debsirin Nonthaburi School to suspend classes throughout next week to assess the situation and improve its internal measures.
The ministry has prepared comprehensive assistance for the family of the teacher who died, including support from ministry funds, the Ch.P.K. funeral assistance scheme for teachers and educational personnel, and government assistance.
It will also consider a special promotion in recognition that the teacher died while on duty.
“Although Debsirin Nonthaburi School is a large school with around 3,500 students and already has CCTV and security measures in place, an incident this severe has never occurred before. The government and all agencies must therefore strengthen preventive measures to the highest possible level to ensure that Thai society does not suffer a similar loss again,” Prasert said.
