Govt: CCTV cameras, staff’s verification must for schools

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 11

The Delhi Government today directed all schools in the city to install CCTV cameras covering their entire premises and complete police verification of their non-teaching staff within three weeks.

The government also announced a high-level committee to frame guidelines to ensure safety of children within school premises.

The order was issued in the wake of growing concerns over safety within school premises days after a gruesome killing of a seven-year-old student in Ryan International, Gurugram, and rape of a five-year-old girl at her school in East Delhi.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia today held a meeting of school principals, police officers and other stakeholders on the issue of safety of students.

Later briefing reporters, Sisodia said all schools irrespective of being government or private will have to mandatorily install CCTV cameras in classrooms, washroom area and playgrounds.

“Schools have been asked to conduct police verification of all their non-teaching staff, including sanitation workers, security staff or drivers, within three weeks,” Sisodia added.

He said the schools have been told to submit the details about police verification on the portal of the Directorate of Education (DoE). They are also supposed to furnish the details on the number of CCTV cameras installed and the number of functional ones.

A high-level committee to be chaired by the DoE Director and comprising school principals, police officials and other stakeholders as members, has been constituted to frame guidelines for the safety of students in schools.

The committee will examine various aspects be it transport safety or the conduct of the non-teaching staff and submit recommendations within a month.

Sisodia, who also holds the education portfolio, underlined if a CBI probe had been ordered that he had demanded in the death of a student last year by drowning inside a tank in Ryan International School, Vasant Kunj the Gurugram tragedy could have been averted.

“There are certain schools which enjoy political protection. The parents have to protest for fees and admission but safety is a very serious issue," he said.