The city police on Saturday issued a set of guidelines to schools in the city in an effort to address the issue of student safety inside and outside the school campus.
City Police Commissioner T.J. Jose presented the guidelines at a Janamaithri meeting held here on Saturday. Representatives of 11 schools participated in the meeting.
Mr. Jose said that school authorities should ensure that drivers of school vehicles were well trained and experienced and possessed the necessary licence. Instructions should be given to school vehicle drivers to avoid speeding and overcrowding children in their vehicles.
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The Commissioner told the school authorities to keep a tab on drivers and helpers of private vehicles who transported schoolchildren. Steps should be taken to ensure that these drivers were not under the influence of any narcotic substance while on duty. Garage supervisors should ensure this before allowing drivers to take the vehicle from the garage.
“There are reports that drivers and helpers of private vehicles park the vehicles near school premises after dropping children and indulge in activities like drinking alcohol inside the vehicles. School authorities should ensure that such activities do not take place near the premises of their institution,” Mr. Jose said.
Instructions should be given to avoid parking on either side of the road. School authorities should alert the police if they found strangers roaming around the school premises in a suspicious manner.
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Students should be instructed against buying anything offered by strangers on the street.
If anybody was found behaving impolitely or indecently with students, the police and the parents of those students should be immediately alerted. The practice of giving mobile phone to children should be discouraged. Even if they were given mobile phones, children should be instructed not to share their phone numbers with strangers.
Parents should check the schoolbags of their wards periodically to ensure that unwanted things were not taken to the school. Parents and school authorities should exercise caution if students were found to bring extra sets of dresses, if not required by the school. Strict monitoring should also be done to ensure that students who left their homes for school were in fact going to school and not anywhere else. Parents should also monitor the usage of mobile phones and computer by their wards.
Parents and teachers should monitor if students were keeping in their possession obscene, immoral or indecent pictures, books or CDs or materials given by strangers.
The guidelines also caution parents against providing huge sums as pocket money to students.