Live feed from classes: Experts not on same page, some say students, teachers will be under pressure

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday said that parents who send their children to government schools will have real-time access to CCTV footage of their child’s classrooms on their mobile phones to ensure safety of children.

The Delhi government’s move to give parents access to live CCTV footage of classrooms has evoked mixed reactions from experts, with a section of them saying it will put students and teachers under pressure while others opined it will help ensure safety of students.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday said that parents who send their children to government schools will have real-time access to CCTV footage of their child’s classrooms on their mobile phones to ensure safety of children.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday said that parents who send their children to government schools will have real-time access to CCTV footage of their child’s classrooms on their mobile phones to ensure safety of children.

Krishna Kumar, former National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), termed the step “wrong and misdirected”.

“This is an anti-child measure by making them vulnerable to parental criticism all the time. Let’s say a child is not able to answer a question in the classroom and the parent sees it and later in the evening scolds the child. It only adds to the pressure the kids are facing,” he said.

He also said that it will undermine the confidence and dignity of teachers. “Nobody improves by being constantly watched,” he said.

Poonam Batra, a professor at Delhi University’s central institute of education, said students and teachers will not feel free if they are being watched all the time. “How can you ever have an environment of learning under constant surveillance,” she said.

Shayama Chona, former principal of Delhi Public School, RK Puram, welcomed the move and said it will not only help parents but also improve teaching. “The safety of students will improve and teachers will be cautious. The quality of education will improve,” she said.

Chona said the government should start this initiative in some schools as pilot project before implementing it in all schools.

Minati Panda, a professor of education at Jawaharlal Nehru University, raised the issue of misuse of the video footage.

“From the point of view of safety of kids, who are at the risk of being abused by fellow students, teachers and outsiders, this is a good move. But there is a possibility of the videos being misused and also of increased parental interference in teaching process,” Panda said.

In September last year, the directorate of education (DOE) had said they are planning to install CCTVs in all classrooms of the government schools. It was announced following the rape of a five-year-old girl at her school in east Delhi and the killing of a seven-year-old boy in a private school in Gurgaon.