School can’t shirk its role over student’s safety: HC

CHENNAI: It is the responsibility of the school management to provide necessary security to the children during the school hours, said the Madras High Court (HC) and directed a private school to pay the compensation to the family of a boy, who died by drowning in the sea.

Vellayan Chettiar Higher Secondary School, Thiruvotriyur moved the HC seeking to quash the single judge order directing the school to pay compensation to the kin of the dead of the student. The case was listed before the first division bench comprising Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala and Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy.

The counsel for the school management submitted that the mishap had not occurred within the premises of the school. The deceased boy jumped the compound wall of the school and went to the seaside to play, thereby he drowned and died, said the counsel. It was submitted that the school is not responsible for the incident and it cannot be made liable for payment of compensation. Further, the school is a charitable institution and is not charging fees from the students, said the counsel and sought relief.

After the submission, the bench wrote that the school authorities cannot shirk their responsibility and liability by making some excuses and upheld the single bench order. The bench directed the school management to pay the compensation within three weeks.

In 2008, a student from the appellant school reportedly jumped the compound wall during lunch hours and went to the nearby seaside to play and got drowned.

The parents of the deceased boy approached the HC seeking compensation for the negligence of the school management. After the perusal of the materials, the single judge ordered the school management to disburse Rs 5 lakh as compensation with an interest of 6 per cent to the family of the boy.