SDMC rolls out safety guidelines for school kids

New Delhi: South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) on Tuesday issued guidelines to ensure safety and security of children in SDMC schools. The decision was taken after a meeting called by SDMC Mayor Kamaljeet Sehrawat.

As per the guidelines, the school administration has to ensure proper lighting in the toilet and the boundary wall of the school should be increased to sufficient height to avoid any intrusion inside the school premises. The teachers have been instructed to ensure that no student is allowed to go to toilet alone and a companion is allowed to accompany the student going to the toilet for a nature's call. Further, it should be ensured that girl's toilets are exclusively used by the girls or female staff while the nursery students will be accompanied with an Aaya. Students should not leave the school premises during the school hours without the company of the teacher. The Principals have to ensure that all CCTV cameras installed in the schools are fully functional, it added.

The schools will have to maintain a visitor's register and fix a time for the visitors coming in the school. Further, school attendants have been deployed at the main gate to keep vigil of the students or visitors.

The guidelines say that it is the duty of the school administration to ensure that mid-day-meal staff of the NGOs should have proper ID-cards and their antecedents have also been verified by the police. The school will have to prominently display the telephone numbers of the police control room, local police station and name and number of the beat officer on the notice board.

"Security of children in SDMC schools is of prime importance. It is our priority to provide a fearless and safe atmosphere in the school as the students facing fear are bound to become mentally weak. Hence, the compliance of the guidelines is imperative and unavoidable," the Mayor said.

Sehrawat added that as per the guidelines, the principals of the schools are supposed to ensure safety audit of their respective schools along with school management committee members and staff of the school as per standard safety norms.