MCD wakes upto protect kids

Jolted from its slumber after the rape of a nine-year-old girl in one of its schools, the MCD has decided to provide security to its students, reports N Pandey.

Jolted from its slumber after the rape of a nine-year-old girl in a toilet in one of its schools, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has decided to provide security to its students. The civic agency has, in principle, agreed to deploy security guards outside MCD schools. The proposal in this regard will be tabled in the meeting of the civic agency's Standing Committee.

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Besides, it has also decided to raise the height of the schools' boundary walls. In the rape case, the two accused had scaled the boundary wall of the school to gain entry. The MCD would also install grills to prevent anti-social elements from sneaking into the school premises.

The issue of providing security to the students was discussed in a meeting of the civic agency's Education Department on Saturday. Whether the civic agency would hire security guards or the existing watchmen would carry out the task is yet to be decided.

“At present the watchmen guard the school buildings at night and there is no provision of providing security during school hours,” an MCD official said.

To create awareness among the parents, parent-teacher meeting would also be held every Saturday. “The meeting would give the parents an opportunity to get answers to all their queries and express their grievances,” the official added. The MCD has also requested the parents not to send their wards to school much before the school begins. “Many a times students come to school much before the scheduled time. Teachers are not available to take care of them in that situation,” said the official.

There are a total of 1,761 MCD schools out of which 512 are girls school, 512 are boys school and nearly 737 schools come under the general shift.