Contractual staff in govt schools under scanner too, says DEO

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 12

District Education Officer Rajinder Kaur on Tuesday said that the concern about safety of children was not just in private schools but in government schools as well.

There are 114 government schools in city. “About 25 schools do not have CCTV cameras. We have issued instructions to get CCTV cameras and install them at gate, area around toilets, rest rooms, boundary walls and other sensitive areas,” she said. She added, “Though all the schools have boundary walls but instructions have been passed to repair if some have got damaged over the time.” She said instructions had been passed for verification of contractual staff in the government schools. “The antecedents of regular staff are already verified but we need to check about the contractual staff, particularly the Class IV employees. We have fixed he deadline for the compliance of instructions but few things can be ensured immediately. If you see our advisory, we have called for employing female attendants and sweepers in primary wings,” she said.

The government schools do not have school bus service, she added. As per the advisory issued on Monday, the focus is on restricting the outsiders. “For whosoever is entering school premises, a register shall be maintained at the gate. Peons, gardeners and watchmen shouldn’t be allowed to use toilets in school premises. Separate toilets shall be provided for such supporting staff,” she said.

The advisory issued by Chandigarh Education Department is vague. They have asked for installing CCTV cameras, but who is accountable? Our demand is that parents should have access to online feed of CCTV footage so that they could point anything wrong. We want transparency and parents should be involved in overall management of the school. — Nitin Goyal, president of Chandigarh Parents Association

The advisory has been sent with good intention. But it should be implemented in all the schools, government and private. More than half of schools are of the government. Action should be taken if any school doesn’t follow, only then will the objective of children’s safety be achieved. — HS Mamik, president of Independent Schools Association

All those things which have been asked for are already part of the system. We have put up around 200 CCTV cameras. All classrooms, corridors and areas outside toilets are covered. Whosoever is coming to DPS from outside, comes with a visitor’s pass. We are alert. We can provide online feed of cameras to parents but modalities need to be worked out. The important thing is recording is taking place — Reema Dewan, principal, DPS, Sector 40

We need to strengthen our children. As of now, an incident has happened and we have started targeting class IV employees. We need to work with them and give them due respect. We need to improve the mental health of all those who are working in the education sector. Because tomorrow, it could be anybody from a teacher to a senior student. — Monica Kahlon, counsellor with Shivalik Public School, Sector 41

It is good that an advisory has been issued to the schools but it should be implemented in letter and spirit too. It needs to be monitored and revised from time to time with innovation in technology. The verification of contractual staff  and those who have come through outsourcing should be done. The children can learn well in school only if they feel safe. — Chanchal Singh, RTE Consultant, CCPCR