When will schools be safe enough for our children?
Monday - January 13, 2020 1:09 pm ,
Category : WTN SPECIAL
WTN- In a recent incident of negligence by the school administration in Indore, a high school student fell off the roof of the school building and ended up seriously injured as he landed on a bicycle parked on the roadside. The school tried its best to absolve itself of the responsibility, laying the blame on the student instead, but no one can doubt the role of the school in it, or rather the lack of it that led to the accident.
The school didn’t have a play ground or open area to hold events, which is why a fun event was organised on the rooftop. The railing of the roof was not high and while participating in an activity, the boy lost his balance and tipped over the railing, falling headlong on the bicycle parked outside, on the road.
It is mandatory for schools to have ample play area and open grounds for the wellbeing of children, without which affiliation is not usually granted. How the school was operating without having the mandated facilities is the first question. Then comes the issues of whether there were enough safety measures on the roof and other areas of the school like CCTVs, fire exits, fire extinguishers etc.
Was there sufficient number of teachers and instructors at the spot of the event? The school says, there was but what they were doing at the time of the accident and why couldn’t they monitor properly or save the mishap by prompt action is anybody’s guess. It is most likely that just like playgrounds, many things were lacking in the school and this is not just about a specific school. This is a norm across schools to skip many of the basic facilities and safety mandates to save money.
Many big schools too have been caught many times brazenly flouting the norms. It is easier still for the smaller schools to hide and escape the authorities or hush-up matters by paying bribes to the inspecting babus. Without the connivance of the education department or the administration, such open violations cannot be possible.
Thousands of schools have mushroomed across our cities and towns, many even operating out of small houses, with utter disregard for the laws. Many of the schools are run by musclemen, goons or politicos, which are hardly touched by the authorities. It is most likely that in this particular case too the school management will escape unscathed and continue to run his school in violation of the norms. In any country of the world such a school would have immediately been sealed and its affiliation cancelled, but not here.
This emboldens the wrongdoers and violations continue, putting the lives of our children in peril. It is time parents were a bit more cautious about their children’s safety in schools and they pressured the schools to abide by the norms. They are paying to run the schools and if their children’s safety is at stake, they must not take it lying down. If they don’t point out the lacunae and force corrective measures, no one will.- Window To News
The school didn’t have a play ground or open area to hold events, which is why a fun event was organised on the rooftop. The railing of the roof was not high and while participating in an activity, the boy lost his balance and tipped over the railing, falling headlong on the bicycle parked outside, on the road.
It is mandatory for schools to have ample play area and open grounds for the wellbeing of children, without which affiliation is not usually granted. How the school was operating without having the mandated facilities is the first question. Then comes the issues of whether there were enough safety measures on the roof and other areas of the school like CCTVs, fire exits, fire extinguishers etc.
Was there sufficient number of teachers and instructors at the spot of the event? The school says, there was but what they were doing at the time of the accident and why couldn’t they monitor properly or save the mishap by prompt action is anybody’s guess. It is most likely that just like playgrounds, many things were lacking in the school and this is not just about a specific school. This is a norm across schools to skip many of the basic facilities and safety mandates to save money.
Many big schools too have been caught many times brazenly flouting the norms. It is easier still for the smaller schools to hide and escape the authorities or hush-up matters by paying bribes to the inspecting babus. Without the connivance of the education department or the administration, such open violations cannot be possible.
Thousands of schools have mushroomed across our cities and towns, many even operating out of small houses, with utter disregard for the laws. Many of the schools are run by musclemen, goons or politicos, which are hardly touched by the authorities. It is most likely that in this particular case too the school management will escape unscathed and continue to run his school in violation of the norms. In any country of the world such a school would have immediately been sealed and its affiliation cancelled, but not here.
This emboldens the wrongdoers and violations continue, putting the lives of our children in peril. It is time parents were a bit more cautious about their children’s safety in schools and they pressured the schools to abide by the norms. They are paying to run the schools and if their children’s safety is at stake, they must not take it lying down. If they don’t point out the lacunae and force corrective measures, no one will.- Window To News
