Appoint student safety committees, district officials direct school managements in Visakhapatnam

Appoint student safety committees, district officials direct school managements in Visakhapatnam

Officials from the district administration said that every school should have a student safety committee headed by the headmaster/principal involving teachers and students. The committee should ensure safety and security of the students and check various aspects including road safety, fire safety, child abuse and seasonal diseases.

Post the auto-rickshaw accident near Sangam-Sarat Junction on November 22, the Education Department has organised a meeting with managements of all private schools here to discuss about the safety of school students.

Speaking to the management members on Friday, District Collector A. Mallikarjuna stressed the need to ensure safety of children and create a child-friendly environment in the schools. He also warned of initiating strict actions if the schools were found to be negligent in safeguarding them.

He said that the school safety committees should check how each and every student is arriving to the school. “Whether they are coming on foot, by auto-rickshaw, by school bus or even if their parents drop at the school. The school should know about it and check their arrival and departure. Right from leaving home to school and reaching back in the evening, it is the responsibility of the managements to take care of them,” he said.

He said that if the school managements come to know that their students are coming to school in overcrowded auto-rickshaws, they must inform parents about it and ask them to stop.

Another aspect, the Collector stressed was regarding the ‘child abuse’. He said that around six months ago, a child abuse case was reported in the city. He said that such incidents should not recur and it is the responsibility of the managements to take steps.