Implement safety norms, schools told

Vikas Sharma

Tribune News Service

Jammu, February 25

The School Education Department has issued strict instructions to all heads of government and private schools in the state for the effective implementation of guidelines on the School Safety Policy, 2016, of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

The National School Safety Policy Guidelines prepared by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) stand for a vision of India where all children and their teachers, and other stakeholders in the school community are safe from any kind of risks due to natural hazards. The guidelines focus on the urgent need to strengthen risk resilience of schools in rural as well as urban areas.

The policy emphasises capacity building of children, teachers, school personnel, state and district education machinery on school safety and disaster preparedness, besides mainstreaming risk and safety education in the school curriculum.

The Directors of School Education, Jammu/Kashmir, have been directed to ensure that all chief education officers (CEOs) who are the nodal officers in the district will make an inventory of schools as per the guidelines.

Further, the J&K Board of School Education (JKBOSE), in consultation with the State Institute of Education (SIE), Jammu/Kashmir, will develop child-friendly teaching material for teachers and students to engage them in school safety issues on a yearly basis. The State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) will conduct training in collaboration with principals of the SIE, Jammu/Kashmir, and the District Institutes of Training (DIETs).

The proposal for the constitution of the School Safety Advisory Committee (SSAC) be submitted to the chairman, District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), through the chief executive officer of the DDMA at the district level. The SSAC will have members from the district administration, various departments, Municipal Commissioner, chief fire officer, chief medical officer, school principals and teachers (government/private), student representatives, emergency response agencies, Indian Red Cross, civil defence, ward representatives, NGOs and other stakeholders.

The focus of the SSAC while preparing the School Safety Action Plan is to maintain information on school population, number of staff members, transportation needs, and key number of officials of each educational institute.

Focus will also be on establishing a mechanism for monitoring safety parameters in all schools on a regular basis. The committee also has to ensure that school safety concerns are included in the District Disaster Management Plan (DDMP) on a yearly basis and all new schools include safety measures. There are around 23,747 government schools in the state, including 12,252 in the Jammu division and 11,495 in the Kashmir division.