Are safety guidelines enough?

One suggestion is regular monitoring of safety in schools

The school had fitted Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras, appointed security staff and partially complied with safety guidelines issued by the police and the education department.

This has raised questions on whether the guidelines are sufficient to tackle sexual assaults on children.

Sources in the education department said while most schools are struggling to mobilise funds to install CCTV cameras, the Jalahalli school had fitted them.

Partial compliance of safety guidelines

Commissioner for Public Instruction Mohammad Mohsin said that the school had partial compliance with the safety guidelines. He said that it was unclear whether verification of school staff was carried out.

Meanwhile, sources said that labourers had been given access inside the school due to some construction activity on the premises.

Stating that mere compliance to guidelines is not sufficient, Nagasimha G. Rao, convenor of the RTE task force, said there is a need for regular monitoring of safety in schools.

The RTE task force has decided to constitute a team of parents to conduct surprise visits to 10 schools in the city from November on a pilot basis.

“We will pick and chose parents whose children study in the same school, so that parents are not denied access. The team will check compliance of guidelines to ascertain if the school is safe,” he said.

Mr. Rao added that reports would be sent to the education department, police and the Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights so that authorities can initiate action against schools found wanting in safety aspects.

‘Introducing guidelines alone won’t help’

D. Shashi Kumar, organising secretary of the Karnataka State Private Schools Managements' Federation, said that there is need for more stringent implementation of laws and mere introduction of guidelines would not help in tackling crimes. He said that the federation would ask for extension of the deadline for implementation of guidelines, as many schools are not able to comply due to financial and logistical constraints.

The police had formed a committee to review some of the guidelines and a report in this regard has been submitted by the education dept.