Calls for school security to be tightened came from across the political spectrum in the aftermath of the Berkeley Institute stabbing.

Speaking out after two 16-year-old boys were hospitalised one with multiple stab wounds and one with a cut hand Dale Butler of the PLP said: "We'd better get on top of this. It's getting out of hand."

Students leaving Berkeley after yesterday's incident said security guards do patrol the school. They also check students' bags to ensure they're not stealing the school's laptops, but searches of pupils themselves are not done routinely. And unlike schools in the US, there are no metal detectors.

According to Mr. Butler, a former school principal, it's time for a tougher approach as the experience of schools in the US shows that "it can only get worse." He explained: "When I was at St. George's Secondary I had nine buildings and no security guards. I spent the day walking around searching bags breaking rules to ensure security.

"If schools do the usual 'hi and be done' (security checks) it's not going to work. They're going to have to do more. And whatever solutions they come up with, we need to be supportive of them. I was told I was violating their human rights because I was conducting bag searches, but I was protecting every student in the school."

Shadow Education Minister Grant Gibbons said: "The stabbing incident today at the Berkeley Institute is shocking news. All parents expect that when they send their children to school they will be safe. Over the past year our community has witnessed a disturbing increase in student-on-student violence. It's clear that the serious issue of youth violence is now an increasing threat in the public school system. This is totally unacceptable.

"Government and the Ministry of Education must immediately reassure parents that when they send their children to school they will be safe from personal attacks and violence. If there's a need for increased security in the public education system then let's do it. At the very least, this should prompt a safety review in our public schools."

Minister of Education Elvin James said: "We're reviewing school security all the time. We never stop reviewing it. Every month we talk about the security in schools and our budget has gone up tremendously. The only thing we do not have is metal detectors. We have security guards there and because of what's happened we'll look at security again."

Mr. James said he could reassure parents that Berkeley is a safe environment despite yesterday's "unfortunate incident." This was echoed by Calvin White Sr., chairman of the Berkeley board of governors who said: "Berkeley has over 700 students. Two of them had an altercation. Unfortunately, one of them got stabbed, but over 700 were doing what they were supposed to do. Our perspective is there's much more going right than going wrong."

Mr. White said there are a number of initiatives in place to prevent such incidents, including a student council and plans to increase the number of prefects. It's hoped this will give the young people a greater voice in what goes on at the school and help with "positive peer reinforcement." A new merit awards programme is also going well.

"Something I would like to see get out (in the media) is that the vast majority of the students are just as disappointed by what's happened as we are," he added.