It has been exactly one year since the Gurugram district administration came out with eight “urgent guidelines” for safety and security of schoolchildren in the wake of the murder of a Class II student in the toilet of a prominent Bhondsi school on September 8, 2017.
However, most of the guideline still remain on paper for Central Board of Secondary Education-affiliated New Shishu Kalyan Public School at Chandu village, located on the outskirts of the city.
Though school director Ajeet Singh claimed “all is well”, bus conductor Mukesh revealed that only four of eight buses had the mandatory CCTV cameras and there were no female attendants.
“All buses have male conductors. One of the buses plying on Makrola village route has a female teacher travelling on it,” said Mukesh.
To a question on mandatory installation of GPS on school buses, he said did not know what a GPS meant.
The toilets used by non-teaching staff, including bus drivers and conductors, are located adjacent to the water cooler frequented by children inside the school premises. The school’s main entrance has a CCTV camera but the gate used by drivers and conductors to enter the school premises did not have one.
‘Financial burden’
The almost 20-year-old school boasts a strength of around 1,000 students, but Mr. Singh claimed the guidelines meant an additional financial burden for them.
“The government can force us to implement the guidelines by threatening to revoke our affiliation. But what about the scores of schools running without affiliation in the district? Is the safety of those children any less important?” said Mr. Singh.
Vishva Bharti Public School in Budhera village had been been running without recognition for almost seven years before it finally procured a provisional affiliation eight months ago. Principal Manju Sharma claimed that a few CCTV cameras have been installed following directions by the Deputy Commissioner but the school had failed to find parent representatives for the safety committee.
“It is very difficult to find parents willing to be on such committees in rural areas,” said Ms. Sharma.
She said the school authorities never felt the need for police verification of non-teaching staff since most of them were locals and “trustworthy”.
The staff at the village’s Government Senior Secondary School said the government is yet to release funds for installation of CCTV cameras. Since the school already has a committee for sexual harassment, the safety committee was not constituted.
After the district administration sent notices to schools last September to implement the guidelines, around 150 schools submitted affidavits claiming to have complied with the orders. A few more fell in line after the district administration asked area Station House Officers and Block Education Officers to personally visit the schools.
“Though the big schools implemented most of the guidelines, it was eventually realised that small budget schools, running out of a few rooms, with low strength and limited resources were unable to comply with the guidelines. We have now decided to come up with a curtailed list for these schools with bare minimum requirements,” Deputy Commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh told The Hindu .
He claimed that meetings of the District School Safety Committee are held quarterly to review the security scenario in schools and that “announced” inspections were conducted in 30 random schools. Mr. Singh said announcements regarding inspections were made since the objective was not to penalise schools but to ensure implementation of rules.
“The safety audit reports are available on the district administration website to ensure transparency,” he said.
The Deputy Commissioner said special campaigns against underage driving and illegal commercial ferrying of schoolchildren in personal vehicles are also on the cards.
‘Positive changes’
Writer Nehaa Singh Kamboj said parents taking matters into their own hands and questioning security measures at schools had brought about some positive changes over the past year.
“Unless you are a staff member or a student, entering a school is impossible without being stopped and asked questions. A few schools like Lotus Valley International even have metal detectors at the entrance. CCTV surveillance is now the expected norm in most establishments, school premises and in school buses. Some also provide tracking apps for parents to keep a check on their wards and know when they board the school bus,” said Ms. Kamboj.
She added that higher boundary walls and guards manning the school perimeter have become a common sight, besides an increase in female guards and hiring from well-known security agencies.
“Fire drills and training for staff and students are held with greater efficiency. Of course, there is much more that can be done. Background checks are still a huge farce in the country and credentials can be faked easily. Thus, a school or security agency may have no idea whom they have hired,” said Ms. Kamboj.
Haryana Progressive Schools’ Conference senior vice-president Colonel (retd.) K. Pratap Singh said school managements faced difficulties in implementing guidelines on installing CCTV cameras in school buses and verification of non-teaching staff. Questioning the rationale behind police verification, he said it just confirmed the address of the person concerned, which is already on the Aadhaar card, and not the antecedents.
Colonel (retd.) Singh added that female attendants and CCTV cameras in school buses were an additional financial burden, and that cameras were damaged frequently due to bad roads. However, he cautioned against going “overboard” and holding the school management and principal responsible for each and everything, adding that it was a “collective responsibility”.
“The school management cannot be held responsible for underage driving by students, ferrying of children in private cabs hired by parents or school buses meeting with accidents. It is unfair. Private schools have become punching bags. What about government schools? All guidelines must be implemented across the board,” he argued.
