Haryana frames safety guidelines for schools
NEW DELHI: The Haryana government has approved guidelines for schools operating in the state under which committees will be constituted at three levels to ensure safety of students. A major part of the guidelines cover safety of children in schools and while they are in the school bus.
The recommended measures include installing of CCTV cameras at various locations in the schools, educating children about the concepts of “good touch” and “bad touch,” and about the hazards of Internet use.
Details of the guidelines were submitted to the Supreme Court in a case related to the murder of an 8-year-old boy in Ryan School, Gurgaon. Filed by the victim’s father, the petition wants the top court to lay down elaborate guidelines for the security of children in schools.
Additional advocate general Anil Grover had handed over the copy of the guidelines to Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra’s bench and said the state was committed to provide a safe environment to children in schools.
As per the guidelines, the committees would be formed at the district level, sub-divisional level and school level. The districtlevel committee will have general superintendence over safety issues of schools in their respective areas, the sub-divisional level committees will check compliance of the rules, while the school-level committee will be involved with the day-to-day functioning of the institution.
A district’s deputy commissioner will head the area committee and it would comprise of 10 members, including commissioner of police or his representative, a civil surgeon, municipal commissioner and representative of private schools.
This committee would take steps to inspect schools at regular intervals.
The committee at the sub-divisional level would be headed by the sub-divisional magistrate. Deputy superintendent of police, development officer or panchayat officer, block education officer and representative parents association would be members of the committee, which will ensure timely inspections and monitoring of safety apparatus in schools.
To be headed by the school principal, school safety committee will be responsible for the execution and obedience of the safety regulations.
As per the guidelines, school buses will have to be painted in yellow and should not have dark films or curtains.
Besides having a valid licence, the bus driver should not have any previous record of traffic challans or offences. Children under five who do not use school bus must be picked up by an authorised representative from a designated spot inside the school, the guidelines state.
In case a parent cannot pick the child, he or she must inform the teacher by phone or SMS in case there is no written communication.