Schools to make fire safety, affiliation certification public

CHANDIGARH : The state information commission, Punjab, on Thursday directed all government, government-aided and private schools in the state to make public their building and fire safety certification and affiliation by the education board.

“In case a school doesn’t have a website, it will be mandatory to display this information prominently on the notice boards, and in case of schools with websites, this information will be displayed on both the forums,” said the order by information commissioner Khushwant Singh.

District Education Officers (DEOs) will ensure compliance with immediate effect. “DEOs will also upload this information on their respective departmental websites, including the name of the schools that are not compliant and also a school compliant in one and non-compliant in the other two,” adds the order. “Schools will not evade sharing the status quo on all three points, fire and building safety certificates and board affiliation certificate. Each compliance or non-compliance must be clearly stated on the website,” said the order.

The order was pronounced after a petition filed by Kamaldeep Kaur of Amritsar against respondents project director, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, and district education officer (elementary). The petitioner had asked for information about affiliation and safety certification of a privately-run school.

However, the information received by the petitioner was incomplete, subsequent to which an appeal was filed.

“There’s a humongous public interest in taking a broader view of the issue of safety of children and staff in schools than confining it to one school. It is evident from the ongoing hearings of this case that some schools – whether they are private, governmentaided or government-operated may not be meeting and complying with the prescribed standards of building and fire safety norms set by the appropriate authority,” said the information commissioner.

The commission has asked the government authority to issue guidelines to schools for implementation of the order. It asked a representative of the appropriate authority to be present at the next date of hearing on August 25 to show evidence that the order is being complied with.