Ryan murder: Gurgaon schools welcome govt’s directive to constitute safety committees

The education department committee will comprise additional director, Elementary Education, additional director, Secondary Education, district education officer, Panchkula, district attorney, Secondary Education, deputy director, assistant director (Academic Cell) and representatives of private schools.

Schools in the state have welcomed the Haryana government’s directive to constitute district-level and school-level safety committees. School-level committees will operate under relevant guidelines framed by officers of School Education Department.

Regional head of Ryan Group of Institutions Francis Thomas was sent on a three-day police remand on Wednesday. (Parveen Kumar/HT Photo)

The education department committee will comprise additional director, Elementary Education, additional director, Secondary Education, district education officer, Panchkula, district attorney, Secondary Education, deputy director, assistant director (Academic Cell) and representatives of private schools. The directive comes in the wake of eight-year-old student’s murder on the premises of Ryan International School in Bhondsi.

“Safety of a child in school is of utmost concern. The move is a step forward in ensuring the safety of students at school. Besides educating students to take care of their safety, we also keep a strict vigil over them. The children in primary school are always accompanied by a nanny while going to washrooms. We have also formed a mothers’ group that meets regularly to share any safety concern,” Rohit Mann, director of Lancers International School, said.

Rupa Chakravarty, the principal of Suncity School in Sector 54, said, “We have deployed a one-of-its-kind safety system — Indoor Location Tracking system — which uses Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) chip within the school premises to provide near real time information to parents. It uses GPS devices in buses to track kids on their way to school and back. The location is shown live to the parents on their phone apps on a map.”

Some schools are issuing EVOTAG–enabled ID cards to students and staff members. EVOTAGs enable tracking in real time, even in areas where CCTV surveillance is not possible, such as inside washrooms. The system helps in generating alerts to the security and administration in the possibility of a mishap. For instance, when the system detects the location of a child where he/she is not expected to spend more time than a certain time, it alerts the IT department so that the action can be taken within time.

“We are already running a pilot project of the same and by October, it will be implemented in the entire school. We have 304 CCTV cameras in our school and 60 cameras in the school buses. All cameras are manned. Each and every floor of the school building has lady guards as well,” said Chakravarty.

Gunit Ohri, principal of Ridge Valley School, said, “This seems to be a great move and I am sure that it will help schools across Gurgaon. However, at the same time, it is the school’s responsibility as well to ensure that all safety and security measures are implemented. For instance, we have a dedicated team of staff posted outside washrooms. Further, there are in-charges to cover each floor during the dispersal timing and when the students come in. We ensure that our children are under surveillance all the time and their safety and security is the highest priority to us.”

The Haryana government had earlier formed a three-member committee to review security lapses in Ryan International School in the aftermath of the murder.