Pune: The state education department issued a slew of guidelines on Wednesday for all schools for the safety of students. A govt notification on Wednesday mandated the education officer to set up a student safety committee in schools like POSH panels in workplaces within a week. The committee should talk to students to understand their problems and concerns.
All schools must install adequate number of CCTV cameras at strategic locations within one month. Non-compliance will result in withholding of grants or revoking the school's recognition. The school's management must obtain a character verification report from the local police of the persons appointed.
Priority should be given to intake of women staff for students up to six years old. Commissioner of education Suraj Mandhare, said, "Students safety is of paramount importance. There have been some unfortunate incidents concerning their safety recently.
Govt is taking serious cognisance. Directives have been issued from time to time by govt about measures for the safety of school students, especially girls. There can be no compromise.
A proposal for the effective implementation of existing measures and the introduction of new ones was under govt consideration." Installation of CCTV cameras in schools and surrounding areas is compulsory for all schools. Govt and local self-government schools that have not yet installed CCTV cameras should prioritise it.
A previous notification govt said a minimum of 5% of the funds under the District Annual (General) Plan related to school education and sports department should be set aside for the construction of infrastructure, and the reserved funds can be utilised for installing CCTV cameras. The school management committee will be responsible, the notification added. Mandhare said that merely installing CCTV cameras in schools and surrounding areas is not sufficient, it is also imperative to check the footage regularly.
This responsibility and taking action on any objectionable matters lies with the headmaster and with the school management committee. According to the notification, the headmaster must conduct inspections at least three times a week. There should be a control room in the school and the footage should be checked under the supervision of the headmaster.
If any objectionable matters are found in the footage, the headmaster should contact the local police administration and take appropriate action. In his statement, upper secretary of the state education department Pramod Patil, said that the school management must conduct a thorough background check into appointments of non-teaching staff made through external sources or on a contractual basis, such as security guards, cleaners, assistants, school bus drivers, etc., "Before the appointment, a character verification report must be obtained from the local police authorities.
After the appointment, detailed information about the person, along with their photograph, should be provided to the local police authorities," he added. Priority to women in non-teaching staff Effective use of complaint boxes Sakhi Savitri Committees must complete assigned tasks within the stipulated period Measures similar to those implemented under POSH Act 2013 needed for school students Student safety committee should be formed in schools by the education officer within a week to understand their problems School management/institution/headmaster/teacher/non-teaching staff must inform the education officer within 24 hours about any inappropriate incident involving a student in the school Any attempt to conceal it will invite severe punishment quotes Most guidelines issued by the education department on Wednesday are old. The education department has to be serious about students' safety but repeating instructions all over again seems like an eyewash.
We need to know how many of these rules are followed by the schools. Many CCTV cameras installed by govt schools are not working. Fire-fighting equipment non-functional Mukund Kirdat I Member of AAP Parents' Association We want our children safe in schools.
Every individual whether in school or outside should take responsibility for their safety. Govt should do much more than just issue guidelines. Most of the time they remain on paper.
Nobody knows how many schools follow them. The school's management must be held responsible for any violation Sheetal Dhekne I Member of Pune District School Parents' Association Pune: The state education department issued a slew of guidelines on Wednesday for all schools for the safety of students. A govt notification on Wednesday mandated the education officer to set up a student safety committee in schools like POSH panels in workplaces within a week.
The committee should talk to students to understand their problems and concerns. All schools must install adequate number of CCTV cameras at strategic locations within one month. Non-compliance will result in withholding of grants or revoking the school's recognition.
The school's management must obtain a character verification report from the local police of the persons appointed. Priority should be given to intake of women staff for students up to six years old. Commissioner of education Suraj Mandhare, said, "Students safety is of paramount importance.
There have been some unfortunate incidents concerning their safety recently. Govt is taking serious cognisance. Directives have been issued from time to time by govt about measures for the safety of school students, especially girls.
There can be no compromise. A proposal for the effective implementation of existing measures and the introduction of new ones was under govt consideration." Installation of CCTV cameras in schools and surrounding areas is compulsory for all schools.
Govt and local self-government schools that have not yet installed CCTV cameras should prioritise it. A previous notification govt said a minimum of 5% of the funds under the District Annual (General) Plan related to school education and sports department should be set aside for the construction of infrastructure, and the reserved funds can be utilised for installing CCTV cameras. The school management committee will be responsible, the notification added.
Mandhare said that merely installing CCTV cameras in schools and surrounding areas is not sufficient, it is also imperative to check the footage regularly. This responsibility and taking action on any objectionable matters lies with the headmaster and with the school management committee. According to the notification, the headmaster must conduct inspections at least three times a week.
There should be a control room in the school and the footage should be checked under the supervision of the headmaster. If any objectionable matters are found in the footage, the headmaster should contact the local police administration and take appropriate action. In his statement, upper secretary of the state education department Pramod Patil, said that the school management must conduct a thorough background check into appointments of non-teaching staff made through external sources or on a contractual basis, such as security guards, cleaners, assistants, school bus drivers, etc.
, "Before the appointment, a character verification report must be obtained from the local police authorities. After the appointment, detailed information about the person, along with their photograph, should be provided to the local police authorities," he added. Priority to women in non-teaching staff Effective use of complaint boxes Sakhi Savitri Committees must complete assigned tasks within the stipulated period Measures similar to those implemented under POSH Act 2013 needed for school students Student safety committee should be formed in schools by the education officer within a week to understand their problems School management/institution/headmaster/teacher/non-teaching staff must inform the education officer within 24 hours about any inappropriate incident involving a student in the school Any attempt to conceal it will invite severe punishment quotes Most guidelines issued by the education department on Wednesday are old.
The education department has to be serious about students' safety but repeating instructions all over again seems like an eyewash. We need to know how many of these rules are followed by the schools. Many CCTV cameras installed by govt schools are not working.
Fire-fighting equipment non-functional Mukund Kirdat I Member of AAP Parents' Association We want our children safe in schools. Every individual whether in school or outside should take responsibility for their safety. Govt should do much more than just issue guidelines.
Most of the time they remain on paper. Nobody knows how many schools follow them. The school's management must be held responsible for any violation Sheetal Dhekne I Member of Pune District School Parents' Association.
