1.2 lakh CCTV cameras to give parents realtime access to classes

NEWDELHI: The Delhi government will invest ₹175 crore in installing 1.2 lakh CCTV cameras in its schools this year. The scheme was announced earlier by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in January when he said that parents would have access to real-time CCTV footage from inside classrooms that they could watch on their smartphones.

The government plans to install these cameras in classrooms, corridors and at the gates of its 1,100 schools in the city. The ambitious move was to promote safety and security of students and to ensure proper monitoring of school activities, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said in his budget speech on Thursday.

Sisodia, who is also the education minister, said that about 150-200 cameras will be installed in each school building. “The speciality of this project is that parents will now be able to see the classroom activities of their children online,” he said.

However, educationists stand divided on the proposal.

Krishna Kumar, former National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), said having CCTV cameras in classrooms was incompatible with values of education. “One of the primary values of education is to give a certain degree of self control to students but such cameras will deny that,” he said.

A government school teacher, who did not wish to be named, said, “There are both pros and cons of the move as it may limit the freedom students and teachers but this will help ensure safety of students.”

THE PLAN, WHICH WAS ANNOUNCED BY CM ARVIND KEJRIWAL LAST YEAR, WILL GIVE PARENTS ACCESS TO FOOTAGE ON PHONES