Security in the education sector is perhaps particularly difficult to take care of. In these contexts, you’re not just protecting valuable assets whose loss could affect your revenue; rather, you have a legal and moral responsibility to prevent young, vulnerable people from coming to harm.
Implementing systems that are able to cater to these risks takes a nuanced approach, starting with an appreciation of regulatory compliance and safeguarding.
Regulatory compliance
One of the most important things to note in the context of education sector security is the central role that regulatory compliance will play.
You can’t just implement a system that seems like it will do the job ok. You also need to check the legal thresholds you’re expected to meet and exceed in a range of different areas, and design your systems accordingly.
It will likely be necessary to engage the services of an education law specialist, to make sure that you’re getting everything just right.
A secure perimeter
While the exact kind of perimeter you’re required to create will differ depending on the age group, most educational institutions have a legal duty to keep kids in the school and keep people who aren’t supposed to be there outside.
Failure to adopt this kind of perimeter can result in security incidents, of course, but it can also result in failing safeguarding assessments by organisations like Ofsted.
Access control systems
There will also be a range of areas in schools and university campuses that need to be subject to strict access control.
This includes access to the campuses themselves, but also to chemicals in science labs, medicine cabinets or sports halls.
It’s important to use smart key cabinets from companies like Traka, so that you can automate logbook creation and enable a tight level of access control to each individual area.
Data protection
It’s not just the physical spaces that you need to protect – you also need to implement security measures to protect all of the data that you’re storing.
You’ll have certain more general responsibilities under GDPR, but there are also additional legal frameworks that apply to the education sector.
You need to make sure that the systems you have in place are well-designed, but also that all employees know exactly how to use these systems and do so consistently.
Fire and security drills
A big aspect of security in the education sector consists of carrying out fire and other security drills.
You need to be able to prove that you can calmly and consistently move people out of your buildings the moment the alarm rings, and in practice, this means conducting regular drills to assess and identify any changes that need to be made.
Taking care of security in an education institution should be an absolute priority. It’s something that you will need to continually assess, to ensure that your current approach remains effective in the light of constantly shifting and emerging threats. You’ll likely need to employ or at least consult professionals in this area, to make sure that you’re getting it just right.
