CBSE raps Ryan school over murder
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) said on Saturday that Gurgaon’s Ryan International School, where an eight-year-old boy was found dead last week, flouted several safety rules and asked the authorities to explain why its affiliation shouldn’t be withdrawn.
The school had no functional CCTV cameras or separate toilets for drivers, conductors and cleaners, a two-member committee set up by the board found. A low boundary wall could also have compromised the safety of students, the panel added.
“It was told that the cry of the child was not heard by any staff. This indicates complete negligence of the school management towards safety and security,” the committee said.
The boy’s life could have been saved had the school authorities discharged their duties and responsibilities with care and sincerity, the CBSE added.
The eight-year-old “was found murdered in the toilet which indicates that he might have been pulled inside the toilet and killed there. The toilet windows had no grills and hence people can access easily from outside.”
The boy was found outside a school toilet on the ground floor, crawling and bleeding profusely before he died on September 8. A conductor of a school bus has been arrested in the case and the Supreme Court has asked state governments to formulate guidelines for school safety.
The CBSE notice blamed the school management for failing to inform the police and education department regarding the death of the student, claiming it to be negligence on the part of the school administration.
“Had the school management deployed attendant/ayah, the mishap would have been avoided.”
The notice further said “a boundary wall was constructed from four sides of the building and in one corner the school boundary is covered with barbed wire. The boundary wall does not have enough height and no barbed wire put above the boundary wall, as a result of which anybody can jump and enter the school premises which defeats safety objectives.”
The notice said the school could not produce safety certificates as per rules of the affiliation bylaws. The school’s fire safety certificate also expired on May 21, 2017.
It said sufficient CCTV cameras have also not been installed at prominent places and most of the cameras in the building are not functioning.
The CBSE said that “from the entire sequence of events, it appears that the school is guilty of gross negligence and failed to ensure safety and security of the students in the school.”
Ryan International authorities have to reply to the notice within 15 days, failing which action will be taken against them.