Hyderabad: The Supreme Court on Monday directed all schools to frame safety guidelines and implement mechanisms to ensure the safety of students. It also asked schools to keep in mind that children should not develop any phobias. Suggestions on the matter have been invited from the central government and state governments. The next hearing will be held on October 30, 2017.
Parents find the Supreme Court’s directions to be lacking. They say that the Court should have specified the action that will be taken against schools found violating its orders, as guidelines without any punitive measures attached to them are worthless.
Parents demand the constitution of a school safety committee within every school, to monitor safety practices on a regular basis.
They say that such a committee should in-clude the principal, parents, teachers, and the supporting staff.
Mr Hridesh Gupta, a parent from the city, says, “All schools know about safety guidelines and how to implement them, but hardly any schools follow them. It is the government which should take action. Courts can only direct schools to strictly implement safety guidelines. When a parent visits a school, security guards only ask for his name as part of a cursory security check. But any person can say that he is a parent and enter a school. This is one of the biggest lapses in security.”
Mr Ashish Naredi, a member of the Hyderabad Schools Parents’ Association, says, “The CBSE board regularly issues guidelines, but schools rarely follow them. Even the board does not care if the schools are following its guidelines or not. If you ask the CBSE board for a status report regarding the implementation of its guidelines, it will not be able to give you one. This is why parents feel that the court should specify the action that will be taken against schools which violate the safety guidelines.”
Safety guidelines suggested by parents
- School bus route audit: Every school should choose safe routes for its buses and conduct periodic audits along these routes. The school management and the local government should identify obstructions and challenges faced by students.
- School bus: The staff operating school buses should be made to follow clear mandates regarding the seat-to-student ratio, the display of emergency numbers and the installation of tracking systems. Parents must be aware of all the bus stops along the route.
- School bus: The staff operating school buses should be made to follow clear manda-tes regarding the seat-to-student ratio, the display of eme-rgency numbers and installation of tracking systems.
- School environment and surroundings: Safety on the school premises is very important. The school management or the government must ensure that the areas surrounding a school are also kept under the watch. Several drug-related issues begin at shops located near schools. School authorities should initiate action to keep the environment and students safe.
