An advisory for police beat officers to keep vigil over schools in their jurisdiction was issued by the Tamil Nadu director general of police (L&O) a few days ago. This came in the wake of the Peshawar terror attack on school children.
The city police had already stipulated safety guidelines for schools, including installing CCTV cameras at strategic points on campus, and performing thorough background checks on drivers transporting children to and from schools. Regular meetings of school authorities with police officials have been made mandatory.
School principals say that though several institutions have installed CCTV cameras and have security measures in place, they may not mitigate the chances of an armed attack. “We have security systems in place and 24-hour security, but they are not equipped to handle an armed attack. We anticipate other kinds of security issues, but the Peshawar attack has thrown up a new challenge,” the principal of a Matriculation school said, suggesting the police and schools should work closely, and constables be posted near schools.
“The police have been holding meetings regularly with the schools. Awareness programmes and drills can be conducted with their support,” she said.
J. Ajeeth Prasath Jain, secretary, Chennai Sahodaya School Complex, said CBSE had re-issued a 2010 circular on a standard operating procedure (SOP) to all schools on Friday evening in the wake of the attack, and Sahodaya would communicate it to all member schools.
“Similar to how the government has a list of approved persons to give a stability certificate, they can draw up a list of approved security agencies from which schools can draw personnel,” he suggested.
K.R. Nandakumar, secretary, Tamil Nadu Nursery, Primary, Matriculation and Higher Secondary Schools Association, said that though they have not received any communication from the education department yet, greater co-ordination with the police would help. “We will circulate the SOP available online to all our schools,” he said.
