Schools wake up to terror

Schools in New Delhi, Gurgaon and Mumbai are introducing a slew of additional security measures in the wake of the recent terror attacks in the country's financial capital, report Ritika Chopra, Sanjeev K. Ahuja & Snehal Rebello.

Schools in New Delhi, Gurgaon and Mumbai are introducing a slew of additional security measures in the wake of the recent terror attacks in the country's financial capital.

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These measures range from metal detectors for students, teachers and non-teaching staff at the entry point to Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras in school buses to additional guards on each school bus.

"We will have guards in each of our 50 school buses. Right now, we are doing a security audit based on which we will decide on additional measures," said Principal Meera Isaacs of John Connon and Cathedral School, Mumbai. She said the school fees would have to be increased to enable the school to provide additional security to its students.

"Our school starts giving out nursery forms from tomorrow and so obviously there will be a large number of outsiders coming into our premises. As a preventive measure, we have decided to get metal detectors, check bags and allow only 10 parents in at a time," Anju Uppal, principal of New Delhi's Ryan International School, said.

Delhi Public School, Sector 45, Gurgaon has asked the parents to make a one-time payment of Rs 2,700 and Rs 250 per month for maintenance of the GPS it has decided to install in its buses.

School authorities will also issue Smart cards to students.

"We have decided to equip all 60 school buses with a GPS and issue all the students Smart cards containing all their details," said Aditi Misra, principal of DPS, Sector 45, Gurgaon.

Some schools have planned to have its buses enter the school premises to drop and pick up students. Currently, many schoolbuses drop and pick up students outside the premises.

Besides, many schools said they would discourage parents to visit the schools individually or in groups. Special permission would be required for a parent or guardian to visit a school.

To avoid large numbers of people gathering inside school premises, many schools have decided to introduce online admission procedures.

"This year we have decided to not only to sell admission forms online only but do the admissions online. We do not want the parents to flock at school premises. We have already banned entry of parents in our school as they can enter only if they have appointments in advance," said Niti Kaushik, principal of Amity International School, Gurgaon.

Hiring private security agencies to train students in disaster management is also on the anvil in some institutions. Many schools have postponed or cancelled co-curricular excursions too.