Minister for School Education Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi said teams comprising officials from the School Education Department, engineers from the Public Works Department (PWD) and officials from the Revenue Department and the municipal administration would be formed to inspect school buildings in Tamil Nadu.
On Friday, three students were crushed to death when a wall constructed near a toilet in Schaffter Higher Secondary School in Tirunelveli collapsed.
Emphasising that the department did not want this to happen again, and that they were focussed on student safety, Mr. Mahesh said Chief Educational Officers (CEOs) across the State have been asked to send in lists from their jurisdiction of schools which are structurally unstable.
“This will be reviewed and based on this, demolition orders will be issued. The department will also ensure that this will not affect the education of children. They will be absorbed into nearby schools or the School Education Department will rent other premises for them” he said.
While education officials are already required to carry out periodic inspections of school buildings, Mr. Mahesh said they were once again instructed to check schools in person thoroughly, and fast track the process of sending in reports about the condition of the school buildings to prevent incidents like this in the future.
“Over the last three to four months, the topic of schools reopening and whether the buildings were stable and safe for children was extensively discussed in CEO meetings. The Department has also insisted that everything, including electrical boards, have to be checked and despite all this, it is shocking that this has happened,” he added
Surprise inspections
The Minister said he had been carrying out surprise inspections of schools as well in the last few months, and always made it a point to check the condition of the bathrooms there.
It was only recently in November that the Directorate of Elementary Education had issued a set of directives to schools under its jurisdiction, following heavy rains in several parts of the State, to be vigilant and ensure that the campus infrastructure was safe for students.
