Karnataka   

Safety is no longer a priority in many schools

Chitra V. Ramani

Gross safety violations found in schools, private and government-run, visited by The Hindu

— PHOTOS: K. GOPINATHAN

A PARENT’S NIGHTMARE: (Clockwise) Tiny tots watch their seniors from the first floor through a railing that is too broad to prevent a child from falling to death while the safety grills at another school protect them. A boy stands precariously at a stairway in the narrow entrance of a private school. The final photo shows the safety measures that should be taken — high parapets and safety grills.

Bangalore: “Do not lean against the parapet. I am warning you because a little girl died after falling from the second floor of her school. You should not run about or push each other in the corridors either,” Srikantappa Swamy, a physical education teacher at the Government High School, Palace Guttahalli, instructed his students during their assembly on Thursday.

The recent death of five-year-old kindergarten student Sonia Singh from a low parapet on the second floor of Vasavi Vidya Niketan has brought into focus the issue of building safety in schools. A surprise check by The Hindu of a few schools, old and new, government and private, revealed a shocking disregard for even fundamental safety precautions. Many tragedies like that which killed little Sonia are apparently just waiting to happen.

At the Government Urdu Primary School, Palace Guttahalli, a metal railing substitutes for a wall on the corridors of the first and second floors, with gaps large enough for a small child to slip through. Primary school classes are located on the first floor.

The story is similar at a private school in Nandini Layout. Here too there are gaps in the railings on two floors. Huge flower pots that are cemented onto the parapet protrude into the corridor: deadly if a child bumps its head. As the school lacks a playground, the children are forced to play either in the classrooms or in the corridors.

Another private school that has around 700 children in the same area has low walls (about two-and-a-half feet) along the open corridors and stairway. Should a child fall from the wall, it would land on the play equipment in a small playground.

Many schools had at least two floors but only one narrow stairway. The entrance to a private school in Devaiah Park is so narrow that two children cannot enter together. A flight of stairs leads to the basement, where primary school classes are held. The assembly enclosure on the ground floor has a low parapet overlooking the basement. If a child falls from the parapet, he/she will land directly on the flight of stairs.

None of the schools, except one in Vyalikaval, had gates wide enough to let in a fire tender to douse the flames from a possible fire.

With most schools lacking playgrounds, children are forced to run about in the corridors, go up and down the stairs and even slide down the parapet. At a private school in Devaiah Park, children have only the road to play.

The nursery and pre-primary classes were in the ground floor in all the schools that The Hindu visited.

A renowned educationist in the city explained why the managements should not allow young children to climb stairs: “It is unfair to expect a four-year-old to climb up the stairs. Moreover, the child may develop breathing problems because of the strain.”

Kumar G. Naik, Commissioner, Department of Public Instruction, said the department was finalising a draft safety and security regulations. “We will finalise it by Friday,” he said.

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