MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court has directed the school education department to ensure formation of Student Safeguarding Advisory Committees (SSAC) in schools across the state, within two months.
A bench of justices SM Subramaniam and AD Maria Clete gave the direction recently on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition filed by an advocate G Shabna of Theni, seeking formation of the committees.
According to Shabna, the state school education department had passed a G.O. on June 17, 2021, introducing safety guidelines to protect students from sexual harassment. One of the measures mandated through the above G.O. included the formation of SSCAs.
The committees should consist of the school principal, two teachers, two parents, a management representative, non-teaching staff, and optionally, an external person, as members. The principal should be a permanent member and half the committee members must be replaced annually, Shabna said.
In case of any sexual abuse complaint, the committee should immediately inform the state-level Central Complaint Centre (CCC) set up by the school education department, she added. But these advisory committees are not reconstituted regularly and are mostly non-functional, Shabna alleged.
The judges noted that the committee has not been constituted in some areas. They directed the authorities to collect data on districts where the committee is yet to be constituted and initiate necessary action to constitute them within two months.
G.O. issued in 2021
The state school education department had passed a G.O. on June 17, 2021, introducing safety guidelines to protect students from sexual harassment. One of the measures mandated through the above G.O. included the formation of SSCAs