ABUJA — The Federal Ministry of Education has established a full Safe Schools Department, replacing the former Safe Schools Unit. The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, announced this when he appeared before the Senate Ad-hoc Committee on the Safe Schools Initiative. He said the new department will lead, coordinate and oversee school safety programmes across the country. The initiative will run under a single national framework covering all 774 local government areas, to improve implementation, accountability and monitoring. Partners include the Office of the National Security Adviser, the Department of State Services, the Armed Forces, the Nigeria Police and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps. Responding to questions about Safe Schools funds currently under review, Alausa said some grants were disbursed before his appointment and were handled at the time by the Federal Ministry of Finance.