ONE of the main British teachers' unions called for panic buttons, linked to local police stations, to be installed in all British schools yesterday following the Dunblane murders.
Mr Nigel de Gruchy, the general secretary of the National Association of Schoolmasters and Union of Women Teachers, said he wanted the interim recommendations of a working group which is investigating security in schools to now be "toughened up.
"It would be absurd for this report to come out in a couple of weeks without making any specific mention of the Dunblane tragedy. This massacre underlined the fact that tragedy can strike anywhere, in any school. We cannot simply urge schools to consider taking these precautions. It must be stronger than that," he said.
The working party, of which Mr de Gruchy is a member, was set up following the murder of the Wicklow born headmaster, Mr Philip Lawrence, outside his west London school, and will officially present its final report to the Education Secretary, Mrs Gillian Shepherd, at the end of the month.
In the report, currently being written, the working group - which includes police and local authority representatives as well as teachers' leaders - urges schools to consider changes in design.
It recommends restricting access to a single point which can be more easily supervised, including doors opened by combination codes.
The group also recommends better training for staff and - where appropriate - security fencing, entry phones and closed circuit cameras.
The working group is expected to recommend changes in the law, including giving police powers to arrest unauthorised intruders in schools.
Mr de Gruchy said the working group should be immediately reconvened to reconsider its recommendations as a "matter of urgency. He also called on the government to ensure that it provided the essential financial resources to implement all the necessary security measures, which should include panic buttons linked to police stations.
However, Mr Doug McAvoy, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said he disagreed with Mr de Gruchy's views and insisted that the tragedy must be kept in perspective. "We don't want to make schools fortresses," he added.
A spokesman for the Department for Education and Employment said Mrs Shepherd had been briefed about the events at Dunblane and also warned that it would be impossible to place all of Britain's schools under armed guard.
Mr Robin Squire, the Schools Minister, said: "Despite the ghastliness of this incident, it is important not to panic and introduce measures which will not be justified. We have to strike a balance. We want schools to continue being the centre of the community."
It is understood that the gunman, Thomas Hamilton, was able to enter Dunblane school armed with four handguns with ease. After walking past two teachers, whom he shot, in the main corridor, he began firing as he wandered across the school playground before entering the gym.
Although many schools, particularly in cities, have tightened security by introducing close circuit television cameras and insisting visitors sign in and wear passes, schools outside cities, especially primary schools, have done little to fortify their premises.
But many teachers believe no amount of security measures could have prevented the Dunblane tragedy. "If someone is hell bent on that sort of devastation, I don't think there is anything you can do," said Mr Brian Jones, a headmaster of a comprehensive school in Lambeth, south London.