Cuttack: The parents of students of private schools in the Silver City have alleged that the schools are violating government guidelines regarding their children’s safety in the school premises.
Private schools are mushrooming in the Silver City every day and they are hiking the fees on a regular basis, but fail to ensure safety and security of the students even after paying huge amounts as fees, alleged some parents.
The School and Mass Education Department had issued a set of guidelines on safety and security of school students following an incident, wherein a student was raped by a staff in the school toilet at Ryan International School October 5 last year.
According to the guidelines, the schools should install CCTV cameras along the way to toilets as well as inside the classrooms. It is mandatory to show valid identify cards to the concerned authorises at the entrance of the school. Moreover, there should be separate toilets in the school premises.
The detailed records of all teaching and non-teaching staff of the schools should be maintained in school register and the school authorities ought to keep the local IIC informed in this regard.
The local police were asked to check the proper implementation of these guidelines. The inspectors-in-charge (IICs) were also asked to review the schools to find if they are following the guidelines set by the department.
However, it was found that some schools at Madhupatna, Badambadi, Buxi Bazar, College Chhak and Martaknagar did not have any CCTV camera and proper record regarding their staff.
In this connection, Cuttack district Collector Aravind Agrawal said that the police should issue notices to schools that were violating the guidelines. Actions should be taken against the schools if they didn’t follow the guidelines even after being served notices.
If needed, the district administration would take necessary steps to bring reforms in this regard, Agrawal added. When asked, the Cuttack deputy commissioner of police (DCP), Akhileshvar Singh said the local police stations were informed about the guidelines and they should check whether the schools under their jurisdiction are following the guidelines.
Similarly, some IICs said the schools were asked to follow the guidelines after the shocking case in Delhi came to light. Police also reviewed the security systems at the schools and asked them to follow the guidelines strictly.
However, some parents informed they were under sheer stress till their children returned from school.