PARIS (AP) – French schools will now hold three security drills a year – including one in which an alleged assailant enters their premises – as the French government ramps up security measures after a string of deadly extremist attacks.
Education Minister Najat Vallaud-Belkacem and Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve announced a series of measures Wednesday to improve how French schools and children handle terror threats.
Students will be taught how to hide or to escape, depending on the situation and where they are.
All students aged 13-14 and class representatives will also get a basic training on life-saving measures. Vallaud-Belkacem said, as of now, only 30 percent of students are trained.
In pre-school and kindergarten, for children aged 2 to 6, no mention of an attack or a danger should be made but children must be taught to hide and keep quiet through games, Vallaud-Belkacem said.