After Badlapur incident, parents afraid to send children to school

Maharashtra government has issued strict standard operating procedures for all schools and educational institutions in the state to install CCTV cameras

Following the rape of two four-year-old girls in a Badlapur school, the Maharashtra government has issued strict standard operating procedures (SOPs) for all schools and educational institutions in the state to install CCTV cameras among other measures to ensure the students’ safety. However, parents are wary of sending their children to school in the wake of the incident.

We will take all the necessary measures to protect students but it is important to educate our children and everyone in society about morals, say Sudhakar Jadhavar, president, Jadhavar Group of Educational Institutes. (ANI)

Rajeev Jagtap, founder-president, Abhinav Education Society’s English Medium School and Junior College, said, “There are CCTVs installed everywhere in all our schools and special attention is given to small children, particularly when they are taken to the washroom during breaks. We have appointed female wardens for this duty and even the corners of the school passage are covered. It is our collective responsibility to protect our children when they go to school and every year, we conduct good touch and bad touch programmes for students at the beginning of the academic year.”

While Sudhakar Jadhavar, president, Jadhavar Group of Educational Institutes, said, “We will take all the necessary measures to protect students but it is important to educate our children and everyone in society about morals. It is impossible to cover all areas of the schools by CCTV cameras but we can impart lessons in humanity to every person…”

Meanwhile, parents are jittery sending their children to school. Mandakini Shetri, a parent, said, “My daughter is studying in Class 2 and after hearing about the Badlapur incident, we are really frightened. Is the school we are sending her to really safe and even the transportation through which we send her and the people she interacts with…”

Another parent, Nikhil Jadhav, said, “Both my children go to school in a school van and are in school the whole day. We completely trust the school authorities and staff but at the same time, we are worried for our children’s safety…”