Uganda, April 8 -- On most mornings in Kampala, many parents drop their children off at school and feel a quiet sense of relief once they walk through the school gate. At that point, the worries of the road fade, and there is a simple belief that they are now safe at school. But that belief has been shaken by the tragic incident at Ggaba Early Childhood Development Centre on April 2, where a man brutally stabbed four young children to death. The incident has since reawakened concerns about how safe our schools really are.

In many schools across Uganda, security is often treated more as a visible requirement than a functional system. A gate, a guard, and maybe a visitors' book is seen as enough. But in practice, entry and exit control are...