A round table meeting, geared towards encouraging national, inter-sectoral discourse, to identify issues and courses of action, to combat armed violence in schools, got underway on Wednesday morning.

The meeting on ‘responses for tackling firearms in school’, is a collaboration involving the ministry of education and youth, the Planning Institute of Jamaica and the United Nations Regional Centre for peace, disarmament and development.

Education Minister Fayval Williams noted, that although not many firearms are found in the nation’s schools, there are real threats, regarding small arms in these institutions.

Ms Williams noted that Jamaica can benefit from the round table, as the country works to reduce violence in schools.

She said data from the Jamaica Constabulary Force, regarding children and violence, is cause for concern.