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Scared for your child’s safety at school? Here are the guidelines to ensure your ward’s safety
The guidelines recommend mandatory installation of CCTV cameras in every classroom, staircase as well as at the main gate and school passages, among others.
The Independent English Schools Association (IESA), a body with almost 400 member schools across Maharashtra, has categorically stated that the safety of children while on school premises is the responsibility of the respective schools.
“Any slip-up is unacceptable,” said Jagruti Dharmadhikari, IESA president while speaking to HT. “When within the campus of the school, the students’ safety is the school’s responsibility, which they should be aware of at any point in time. Any slip-up is unacceptable and therefore, we have issued guidelines to ensure that events like the one that happened in Gurgaon, doesn’t happen in the state,” she said.
The guidelines were issued in light of the murder of an eight-year-old student of Ryan International School in Gurgaon.
The guidelines recommend mandatory installation of CCTV cameras in every classroom, staircase as well as at the main gate and school passages. The display from all these areas, the guidelines recommend, should be in the Principal’s office. “It is also very important that these CCTV cameras are in working condition. They should not be installed for the sake of it, instead, should be regularly monitored and maintained,” Dharmadhikari mentioned.
Pointing out that student safety can be promoted through student awareness also, IESA has recommended schools to conduct workshops to educate students to distinguish between good and bad touch and what to do in such cases.
Schools have been asked to undertake background checks of school bus drivers, conductors and watchmen very seriously. “Schools should regularly monitor the behaviour of school bus drivers, conductors, peons and watchmen. Also, a proper police verification should be done to ensure the safety of students,”she stated.
To ensure further infrastructural safety, the guidelines also urged schools to possess and periodically check and maintain their fire safety equipments. Further, proper fire audits should also be done by them, they stated.
