Safe students: 1,029 Delhi government schools to get CCTVs in all classes

The state government has ordered all private unaided recognised schools in the national capital to install ‘sufficient’ CCTV cameras in their premises with recording facility of minimum 15 days.

New Delhi

All government schools in Delhi currently have CCTV cameras that were installed two years ago but only at the main gate and some of the corridors. (Subhash Mishra/HT Photo/For representation only)

To ensure the safety and security of students, the Delhi government is planning to install CCTV cameras in all the classrooms in its 1,029 schools.

The government had recently ordered all private unaided recognised schools in the national capital to install “sufficient” CCTV cameras in their premises with recording facility of minimum 15 days.

“We will install CCTV cameras in each of the classrooms in all of our schools to ensure safety and security of our students,” a top official from the directorate of education (DOE) said.

Following recent cases of crime against children in schools, education minister Manish Sisodia had on last Monday held a meeting of all stakeholders and a high-level committee chaired by the DOE director was set up to frame guidelines for the safety of students in schools.

Currently, all government schools have CCTV cameras that were installed two years ago but only at the main gate and some of the corridors. Sources said that a review will be done to look at the functioning of the existing CCTVs.

“There could be some CCTVs that may not be working due to technical and repair issues,” the source said.

In its order on Friday, the DOE has asked all private schools to submit details about police verification of their employees on the DOE portal and install CCTV cameras in their premises within three weeks.

“…all private unaided recognized schools are hereby directed to install sufficient number of CCTV cameras in school premises so as to mandatorily cover all classrooms, labs, corridors, parking, library, vacant rooms, the areas outside washrooms, and all isolated areas and ensure 360* coverage of the entire school premises,” the order issued on Friday said.

However, there will be no CCTV cameras inside washrooms, the order issued by Saumya Gupta, director education, said.

The DOE has also asked schools to ensure that all CCTV cameras installed in the school should be functional round the clock along with recording facility of minimum 15 days or above.