Andhra Pradesh - Vijayawada   

Regulate private schools, says DEO

Staff Reporter

`They too should take measures to prevent Keesara-like accidents'

VIJAYAWADA: District Education Officer (DEO) M. Satyanarayana Reddy and Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) (central zone) M. Satyanarayana on Tuesday said that any number of steps by the Government to protect the lives of schoolchildren would prove inadequate if the managements of private schools and parents did not take some preventive steps on their own.

Participating in a discussion organised by a Telugu evening daily `Rakshana' on the recent picnic tragedy at Keesara, the DEO pointed out that most of the accidents occurred in the case of private schoolsas unwarranted competition had sprouted after privatisation of education. Hence, there was a need to regulate them, he said.

Suggested steps

Mr. Reddy urged parents not to get carried away by an impression that only private schools impart good education. Mr. Satyanarayana said if the police were informed well in advance about picnics, they would be able to provide some escort. The school managements would have to do a survey about the locale and gather information about the facilities available there.

He suggested to the parents to know about the legal remedies available to them in case of such accidents.

Students to be cautioned

The ACP said henceforth students would be sensitised at the beginning of every academic year about such accidents and the preventive steps to be taken. Ch. Babu Rao, the floor leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation, said though the cancellation of Ravindra Bharathi Public School was a welcome step, the Government must also ensure that sufficient compensation was paid to the families of deceased children.

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