School guidelines for safety of students

The Odisha govenrment has issued gudelines for school authorities on safety and security of students in state-run schools following the killing of a boy inside a school in Gurgaon.

The School and Mass Education department in its gudeline issued to all school authorities said that each and every visitor including parents would have to produce their identity cards before entry into school premises.

It also said that the contractual staff of a school should be appointed only after proper verification of their identity through Voter I Card or Aadhaar Card. This apart, the gudeline said that CCTV cameras should be installed at all strategic locations of the school premises.

Regarding safety in the school campus, it said that no vendors would be allowed inside the school premises during school hours. Teacher should strictly adhere to the ‘no meeting’ policy with visitors during school hours.

The visitors should be given a photo ID which they would have to wear during their stay in the school campus.

The parents, guardians, house-help and drivers should not be allowed to enter or leave the school premises without showing their identification. All the support staff should be frisked by the school security both on arrival and before departure.

The administrative staff have to take periodic rounds of washrooms, lunch areas, class rooms and open spaces during and after school hours.

Gate passes should be issued for any change of mode of transport or if the identity card was not available.

It said awareness must be generated among school children to avoid enticement from strangers. In school buses, the guideline said that the busses might be fitted with CCTV cameras and GPS systems to track their location. There should be teachers on duty in school buses.

Female attendants should be on duty in every bus and should be present till the last stop.