Days after AAP MLAs entered schools run by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to highlight their “poor condition”, the civic body issued an order restricting the entry of outsiders.
In its order dated September 6, the MCD said that outsiders will only be allowed in its schools only after being given due permission. The order also stated that no visitor will be allowed to take photos or videos of the school campus.
'Attack on a teacher'
The corporation in its order highlighted an incident from August 27 when, “some anti-social elements entered Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya, Nand Nagri, on the pretext of being parents and attacked a school teacher”, causing serious injury during school hours.
It added that on September 3, “similar” incidents took place in several MCD schools.
This was the same day when various AAP MLAs, including the party’s chief spokesperson Saurabh Bharadwaj, entered the civic body-run schools and live streamed the “poor condition of the schools” during class hours.
A senior MCD official agreed that the decision was taken after the live stream by the AAP MLAs.
“We also received a circular from the Directorate of Education (DoE) that mentioned the August 27 incident and directed us to maintain minimum standards of school safety. But at the same time, I must also say that the condition of our schools is not poor and the AAP MLAs should not have disrupted the learning hours of our students,” the senior MCD official added.
Past incidents
Instances of people barging into MCD-run schools to commit crimes are not new. On April 30, two girls studying at a school in north-east Delhi run by the erstwhile East Delhi Municipal Corporation were sexually assaulted inside the classroom. The accused, who was later arrested by the police, sexually assaulted the girls and made obscene gestures at them.
“You cannot enter a school and randomly ask a child about the condition of their school and live stream their response. It interferes with their privacy and is not acceptable. There have been various disruptions at MCD schools and our decision is in line with (DoE) circular,” the senior MCD official added.
However, the official refused to elaborate on why the decision was not taken after criminal incidents were reported from the civic body-run schools in the past.
