Many schools are checking their security level to ensure that it is sufficient to match current threats.

A recent survey of teachers carried out revealed there are a number of different security issues that present themselves in the day to day environment of a school.

In the summer of 2007, schools were given the go-ahead to take fingerprints from children as young as five. An investigation earlier in 2007 showed that 285 schools had already introduced fingerprint scanners for a range of purposes including tracking children for truancy and security purposes. Although this is a successful system it still does not make school computers and equipment secure.

Schools are targeted for their laptops, computers, over-head projectors and general electrical apparatus. In February of this year, a school was burgled and "50,000 worth of equipment was stolen. Unfortunately, the school did not have Access Control or secure entry & exit system.

However, they did have an alarm system, but regrettably the alarm was ignored by local residents and an alert did not go through to the control centre.

It is very important that schools are fully equipped with a professional security system to keep intruders out and to protect the school during the evenings and weekends.