Are schools unsafe? Skill council wants to carry out safety audits

Amid growing concern over the safety and security of schoolchildren following the murder of an eight-year-old in Ryan School, Gurgaon, the Security Sector Skill Development Council (SSSDC) has told the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) that it can carry out safety audits of all schools through its specially trained auditors.

The council offered to suggest ways to strengthen security and vigil in schools, and said it can help conduct psychometric tests on the staff to measure if they are suited for their roles and find their mental health status.

“We have sought an appointment with the CBSE. Ideally they should have got in touch with us as we have specially trained auditors for this purpose.

“After the unfortunate death of the boy, many schools have approached us, seeking help in carrying out safety audits of their institutions. Since security guards today are trained in government-approved institutes being run under our supervision and guidance, we have decided to collaborate with the CBSE to help schools improve their safety and security apparatus,” said SSSDC chairman Kunwar Vikram Singh.

Singh said that the SSSDC, which works under the aegis of the National Skill Development Council (NSDC) and the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, has told the CBSE that they had requisite expertise in training “security risk management auditors” for both physical and electronic security systems.

He said they can help train and assess currently deployed private security guards in schools and conduct psychometric testing of other personnel too.

“The auditors trained by us are professionally competent to identify gaps in security and advise the stakeholders on the most optimum solutions to plug them. They are fully aware of the statutory guidelines framed by the government, thereby contributing in crime prevention.”

The board had last week asked all its affiliated schools to get a “psychometric evaluation” of all employees, including teaching and non-teaching staff, by professional psychologists within two months.

It had issued a circular with fresh guidelines for the safety and security of students, days after the murder of the eight-year-old boy, allegedly by a bus conductor.

Psychometric evaluation is designed to measure a person’s suitability for a role based on the required personality characteristics and aptitude.