Bukit Batok Secondary School ran an emergency exercise with a simulated armed perpetrator on Thursday (22 October). The Ministry of Education (MOE) detailed the drill in a press release dated 23 October, setting it within the round of emergency drills every MOE school runs each year. Education Minister Desmond Lee was at the school to watch students and staff respond.
What happened at Bukit Batok Secondary
The exercise involved 1,100 students and 160 staff. The scenario was a visitor who turned hostile after entering the school grounds.
The school triggered its emergency response protocol. Staff activated internal communication channels, and students and staff carried out Run, Hide, Tell actions as the whole school went into lockdown.
Every school drills each year
All MOE primary and secondary schools, junior colleges, Millennia Institute and special education schools hold emergency drills every year. The scenarios cover:
- Fire evacuations
- Bomb threats
- Uncooperative or hostile visitors
MOE reviews the drills regularly and adds new scenarios as threats change. The aim is for students and staff to know the safety procedures across a range of situations, not one type of threat.
Designed with SCDF and the police
The drills are planned in consultation with the Singapore Civil Defence Force and the Singapore Police Force. MOE describes them as realistic and progressive, so that schools can review and update their protocols after each one.
After every drill, school leaders and teachers in charge run a post-drill briefing to go over the procedures with students and staff.
Beyond schools
MOE also works with institutes of higher learning on their readiness for emergencies. For selected school and campus staff, it runs workshops and scenario-based discussions on potential threats from inside a school and nearby.
The drills complement SGSecure, which teaches the public what to do in a security incident. For students, that means knowing how to protect themselves and get help, starting from primary school.
