Ingush schoolchildren will soon need to pass through metal detectors in order to enter schools. Every school in Ingushetia is to be equipped with a metal detector by decree of the republic’s president, Yunus-Bek Yevrkurov, his press office reported.

According to the president’s administration, the measure will increase the safety of schoolchildren. School guards will be trained to work with the new equipment. The press release notes that the work will be implemented with funds set aside for social services, and will be assigned to contractors who are engaged in the construction of educational facilities.

In addition to metal detectors, the newest surveillance technology will be introduced to the largest school in Ingushetia, where more than 1,500 children study. The system will monitor the time each student spends at school and will notify parents of children’s time of arrival and departure from the school.

The latest technology introduced to Ingush schools is claimed to be for security reasons, and is largely supported by parents. Some, however, are sceptical of the idea.

Tama Uzhakhova, a mother of two schoolchildren from Ingushetia’s largest city, Nazran, told OC Media that the school’s administration was going to make the parents pay for the service.

‘We live close to the school and I know that my children don’t do anything bad and that they come straight home from school. Why would I need it?’ Uzhakhova asks.

Some parents don’t see the need for such strict security measures in schools. They argue that the authorities are making the situation worse with such decisions.

‘Such control will affect the students. They are going to think that the increased security means that something bad could happen. It will distract them from their studies’, said Rashid Ozdoyev, the father of one student.

Twenty-two schools were built in Ingushetia last year, and more are already planned. All were built according to the new requirements by local authorities.