North MCD school principal, 2 staff suspended after kid locked in class

The child, officials said, was a four-year-old and had fallen asleep in his classroom. Around 12:30 pm, when the first shift in the municipality schools was over, the staff locked the room and left.

The North Municipal Corporation of Delhi suspended the principal of a primary school in Badli ward and two other staff members for not noticing a nursery student sleeping in the classroom and locking him in for two hours after their morning shift ended.

The North Municipal Corporation of Delhi suspended the principal of a primary school in Badli ward and two other staff members for not noticing a nursery student sleeping in the classroom and locking him in for two hours after their morning shift ended. (AFP)

The child, officials said, was a four-year-old and had fallen asleep in his classroom. Around 12:30 pm, when the first shift in the municipality schools was over, the staff locked the room and left.

Only two hours later, after his mother reached the school looking for him and they searched the school premises, was the boy found fast asleep on the bench. With the help of the staff that had arrived at the school for the second shift, she broke open the lock and rescued the child.

”We have already suspended the principal , nursery teacher and a school attendant in this matter,” said a senior officer of the education department of north municipality. The school falls in the municipality’s Civil Lines zone.

“Thankfully, the child was sleeping all through and he is not hurt or traumatised in any way,” the officer added. “Going by the rules, the Principal is supposed to check every classroom, toilet and the playgrounds for children before leaving. In this case, clearly there was a violation,” he said.

On February 20, a case of negligence in a South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) school had emerged whereby a 7-year-old boy student had broken his elbow bone in a fight with a classmate when the teacher was away allegedly attending a phone call.

On February 5, a 10-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a sweeper in an East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC) school. The schools authorities were blamed for not conducting a thorough background check of its lower school staff or installing CCTV cameras on the premises.