Parents, your kid's school MUST follow ALL these Supreme Court guidelines on child safety

Has your child's school deployed female guards at the entrance and exit gates?

Ryan International school witnessed a horrific incident of murder of a seven-year-old student who was found with his throat slit in the washroom of the school in Bhondsi area. Police have arrested a bus conductor of Ryan International School in this regard. Do you, as an aware parent, know the important safety rules that a school must follow before enrolling your kid? Only the tall buildings and jaw-dropping infrastructure are not enough. Here are a few GUIDELINES ON CHILD SAFETY IN SCHOOL by the Supreme Court regarding prevention of sexual assault, rape and other related crimes on school going children in the school premises that you should know of before enrolling your kids in a school:

1. The school should make sure that no school children are handed over to anyone except parents/or those authorized by the parents. (Through ID Cards).

2. Sufficient CCTV cameras should be available in the premises not only that there should be CCTVs facing the road and entry, exit and periphery.

3. According to the SC, no minor female students should be left alone with male staff. You must know beforehand if the school follows this policy.

4. In case of emergency, the principal shall personally authorize custody of the child to a female teacher until the parent/guardian come and take stock of the

situation.

5. You must ensure that there are separate male/female toilets and both at a distance from each other. Female attendants (Ayah) should be appointed to monitor near the female toilets.

6. School management should compulsorily insist for police verification certificate with antecedent and address verification while appointing/hiring teachers, physical instructors, lab technicians, drivers, janitors and other support staff including the security.

7. School management should ensure they hire staff from the reputed outsourced vendors in transport, security, housekeeping and canteen sections.

8. You must make sure that the school management should make security guard responsible to go round the entire campus and class rooms after the school is over to ensure nobody is there in the class and report to the principal or senior teacher.

9. School management should send a circular to the parents of the children who are using private 3 wheelers/four wheeler/cabs or any form of transport to get satisfied about their conduct and antecedents along with a proper address.

10. School management should ensure that all areas of the school premises like class rooms, led play-grounds, canteens, corridors, etc. should be regularly monitored and the un-authorized person should be questioned for their presence.

11. School management should appoint some staff as vigilance monitors on rotation to keep an eye on all activities of kids arrival and departure from school, during playtime, mealtimes, near toilets etc.

12. School management should ensure that no child should be given dark room or solitary confinement punishments.

13. School management should set up an internal vigilance committee comprising of staff, parents and education department officials and meet periodically and discuss the issues concerning the deficiencies in security and related issues

and take corrective actions.

14. School should nominate coordinator counsellor for parents to inform about their concerns to him/her in confidence.

15. School management should periodically or during their meetings with both teaching and non-teaching staff discuss issues concerning safety issues of children and take feedback from the staff.

16. Schools should take attendance of children at the beginning of school, after lunch and at the time of school closing. In case if any students are not available then immediately the matter should be brought to the notice of the parents/guardians and to the concerned including police.

17. The school principals should give strict instruction to the van drivers and van attendants not to pick up any un-authorized persons into the vehicle who are not connected with the school.

18. The bus the driver/attendant should not allow the child to get down in the middle other than the place of residence from where the child was picked up.

19. School management should install Display board regarding "Dos & Dont's" in front of the School/College premises.

20. Senior sections should be separated from junior ones.

21. School management should insist that the vendors should compulsorily get the verification done to the staff who are supplied by them and produce the verification certificate to the principal before deputing them on duty to the schools.

22. School management should appoint security guards. Along with male guards, female guards should be deployed at the entrance and exit gates during school hours.

Schools have to follow these rules and you must ensure that the schools are actually executing the pointers. Do nenrollrol your kids to a school that does not follow the aforesaid rules.

Image: IANS