The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Centre and states for suggestions to improve security at schools to ensure the safety of students. The bench issued a notice to the central and state governments and asked them to reply within three weeks.
The court’s notice comes on a Public Interest Litigation asking for the existing child safety guidelines to be implemented. The petition, filed by two practising Supreme Court lawyers, comes a week after a Class 2 student was murdered at the Ryan International School in Gurugram on September 8.
On Tuesday, a bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and justices Amitava Roy and AM Khanwilkar agreed to hear the plea. The petitioners also recommended holding schools firmly responsible for the safety of students on campus.
On Monday, the bench had issued a notice to the Centre, the Haryana Police, the Central Board of Secondary Education and the Central Bureau of Investigation on a similar plea filed by the child’s father.
The murder of the Class 2 student has raised questions about how safe children are at school. The seven-year-old was allegedly killed by a bus conductor, who managed to enter the bathroom students use. In the week that followed, there have been allegations of security norms violations against the Ryan Group school.
On Wednesdat, the CBSE asked schools affiliated to it to carry out complete psychometric evaluations of all employees, including teaching and non-teaching staff, sweepers, bus drivers and conductors. The board said that the onus of keeping students safe on campus lies solely with school authorities. It also asked schools to have the police review on-campus security and submit a report.
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