Two months after a minor girl was raped in school premises in Bangalore, schools in the city are racing against time to implement security guidelines issued by the police. However, several schools say they won’t be able to comply with the guidelines as they don’t have the funds.
The police guidelines include:
– Bringing maximum area under CCTV coverage
– GPS installed on school buses
– Female security guards on school buses
– And patrolling of every floor by security staff
Even as schools question the guidelines they feel are being thrust upon them for better technologies and better safeguards, one positive has come from the Bangalore University, where efforts are on to reach the heart of the problem – sensitising tomorrow’s teachers. The physical education department that trains PT teachers, is soon starting a counselling session. Even as such small steps are being taken, schools are planning to move court against the safety guidelines.
The Iyer High School in North Bangalore is one of 17,000 middle-class English schools in the city. With only 500-odd students and less than 30 teachers, it’s one of the schools which says it can’t comply with elaborate safety guidelines issued by the Bangalore Police after the rape of a 6-year-old girl two months back.
