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SCHOOL children drawn from the Talensi District of Upper East Region have embarked on a route march to demand from duty bearers safety and conducive environment for teaching and learning. The children, after several hours of marching with placards calling for positive change, presented a petition to the District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr Edward Awunnore. �While commending the District Education Oversight Committee and District Assembly for your commitment to improve the education of children in the district, we wish to humbly draw your attention to the gross neglect of school safety issues at the basic level of education by parents, teachers and regrettably duty bearers,� the petition stated. The programme was organised by Rural Initiatives for Self Empowerment-Ghana (RISE-Ghana), an NGO, and sponsored by World Vision Ghana (WVG). The pupils complained that most of the school infrastructure are not learning-friendly and endanger their lives. The petition said some of the school buildings are weak and lack furniture. It called for the formation and strengthening of School Safety Sub-committees, including the School Management Committees and the implementation of measures to ensure that learners have access to safe and wholesome food for proper physical and intellectual development. �Duty bearers must ensure that schools are made drug-free environment where learners and staff know the dangers of drug abuse and also ensure that the learning environments cater for the requirements of children with special needs/disabilities so that they can acquire the highest level of education without discrimination,� the petition further said. The pupils expressed the need for action to be taken to ensure that learners are safe from any form of physical, emotional and sexual abuse and neglect by teachers, peers, parents or community members. They said stakeholders should be conversant with measures needed to prevent occurrence of disasters and the steps required to reduce the impact. The Project Manger of RISE-Ghana, Ahmed Awal, said the issues of safety environment for learning border on the infringement of the fundamental human rights of children. He said it is very crucial for children to be provided with safety environment to enable them to achieve their fullest potentials. The Area Development Programme Manager of WVG in charge of the district, Mr Fredrick Amoabeng, noted that the district is prone to disaster, and called for multi-sectoral approach to help mitigate the problem. The DCE asked stakeholders to join the crusade in mitigating disasters in the area.