The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : ‘It is collective responsibility’

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 20, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

‘It is collective responsibility’

A.B. Sudheendra

‘Nursery classes must have simple furniture’
‘Pre-primary play equipment must be maintained well’

BANGALORE: Safety guidelines have not been issued by the Government or the Education Department to the schools. The authorities concerned have not issued any circulars or organised any workshops for the school managements on the issue.

In the absence of any set of guidelines, many principals and teachers agreed that it was the responsibility of managements, principals, teachers and other supporting staff to provide safe and secure environment for children while they were in school.

A copy of the permission letter issued by the Government to a school confirms that the authorities have not thought about issuing a set of guidelines.

“Children are our responsibility while they are at school. This responsibility has to be collectively shared by teachers, helpers, security and other staff. So they too have to be made aware of the safety measures,” said Sandhya Siddharth, Secretary of AV Education Society.

Anusuya Ramachandran, principal of The East-West School said: “To ensure free movement, nursery classes must have simple furniture and it is desirable that children squat on carpeted floors,” she said.

“Pre-primary play equipment should be checked and maintained well and children should be allowed to play only under the supervision of teachers and helpers,” said V. Meenakshi, principal of Prasiddhi School.

Here are some suggestions given by the principals to ensure safety at school: Pre-primary classes should be conducted on ground floors.

Guidelines

They said climbing staircase by pre-primary children should be avoided and if necessary only under the supervision of teachers and helpers; schools located on main roads must have security and traffic police to assist children in crossing roads; grills must be fixed in all passages of all floors except ground floor; construction, repair and maintenance work should be taken up only during holidays; electrical switch boards and sockets must be out of reach of students; fire extinguishers to be installed in laboratories, libraries, auditoriums and other vantage points. The principals said first aid kits must be readily available in case of emergency especially in pre-primary classes, and corridors and stairways must be kept clean.

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