BHUBANESWAR: In the wake of the murder of a seven-year-old student in Ryan International School in Gurugram, Odisha Government has issued a set of guidelines on safety and security of school students which mandates schools to hire contractual staff only after antecedent check by police and identity verification through voter identity card or Aadhaar card.
As per the new guidelines, no visitor would be allowed to enter school premises without a valid photo ID card. He would be issued a visitor’s pass which can be generated after production of photo ID cards.
While parents, guardians, house-help and drivers would not be allowed to enter or leave the school premises without showing their identity, no vendor will be allowed into the campus during school hours.
Besides, all support staff would have to be frisked by the school security upon arrival and departure.
The Department has also asked schools to direct teachers to adhere to ‘no meeting’ policy during school hours with visitors.
Schools have been directed to instal CCTV cameras at strategic locations and monitor it throughout the day by responsible staff. Schools should allot duties to teachers to monitor student activities in the morning as well as during breaks and lunch. The administrative staff would take periodic rounds of washrooms, lunch areas, classrooms and open space during and after school hours to ensure that the children are under surveillance at all the times.
The Department has instructed schools to generate awareness among students to avoid enticement from strangers and build separate washrooms for students and staff. Women caretakers would accompany kids to washroom or do rotation duty in front of washrooms.
Apart from compulsory head count of students at designated stops, schools have been asked to hand over custody of students who need to leave the school only to their parents or authorised persons after proper verification. Schools have also been instructed to instal CCTV cameras and GPS systems on buses to track locations and deploy teachers to accompany students.
“They will also check antecedent of bus staff through police verification. Female attendants will be on duty in every bus and present till the last stop. Security guards will to be sent on all school trips in junior schools,” the guidelines stated.