Implement safety guidelines, CBSE directs schools

Gurvinder Singh

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, October 4

The CBSE has directed the schools to implement the guidelines issued by the National Disaster Management Authority.

According to the guidelines, safety measures need to be taken at all levels — school, district, state and national.

It has been directed that the schools must have safety ‘focal point teacher’ who would anchor safety-related actions at the school level. A cadre of educators and trainers needs to be developed for ensuring that safety messages, do’s and don’ts for managing disasters, procedures and protocols reach each and every student.

Emergency response plan need to be developed in advance. At the state level, the Education Departments of the states need to review and work to support the efforts to ensure schoolchildren’s safety. The School Safety Advisory Committee needs to be formed to advise the state government regarding safety in schools. State and district-level disaster management plans need to focus on the education infrastructure.

Even teacher training has to include the training and awareness regarding the safety measures. It is mentioned in the guidelines that: “District Institutes of Education and Training should also directly train teachers on the safety aspects as part of their pre-service and in-service training programmes”. Training of teachers on the psycho-social support for children affected by disasters also needs to be provided. Block Education Officers or other officials need to be issued instructions for overseeing and facilitating school safety at the block level. In addition to several other measures needed, the board had recently also asked the schools to get psychometric tests done for the whole of the school staff. Schools were also directed to take safety measures regarding the use of Internet in schools.

Not just on disaster management, the CBSE has re-instructed schools to take safety more seriously.

DP Guleria, Director, Ludhiana Sahodaya Schools Complex (LSSC), said several safety measures had been taken by the schools, while there were some yet to be implemented. Regarding the psychometric tests, the meeting of the school heads of the LSSC would he held, once the CBSE issues parameters of the psychometric test, he added.