GURUGRAM SCHOOL MURDER: HC NOTICE TO CBSE

A year after the brutal murder of an 8yearold in school hours, parents remain unsure about the safety of their wards. Experts say parents need to take up a more active role

The Punjab and Haryana high court issued a notice to the CBSE and Haryana government on a plea seeking de-affiliation of school where a seven- year-old was murdered last year.

GURUGRAM: It’s been a year since the shocking murder of an eight-year-old boy, a Class 2 student, who was found with his throat slit at a boys’ toilet of a private school in Gurugram – an incident that triggered a nationwide debate on school safety and forced the government and institutions to put in place mechanisms to ensure security on campus.

Though a lot has changed in terms of alertness and safety measures in schools, doubts and questions remain in the minds of parents.

Soon after the incident on September 8 last year, School Learners Network, a group of professional school leaders, spoke to 300 parents and found that 72% of them did not trust that schools could ensure the safety of their wards.

Parents had then alleged there was no security for students at the school where the murder took place; there was no functional CCTV camera on the premises and a boundary wall was yet to be repaired.

The death of the student on the school premises, which parents consider a safe environment, left parents across the country outraged and deeply worried. Parents were angry that despite paying hefty fees, they could not be assured of their children’s well being.

The private school in Gurugram reopened after a month with a new administration and a full-time safety and security officer in place. But by then, most of the parents had withdrawn their wards from the school.

Saurabh Gupta, the father of a class 3 student, was one of them. “I decided to withdraw my son from the school shortly after the incident. This was the second such incident in the same group of schools and I was scared. I knew nothing much would change,” he said.

Kavita Yadav, a parenting coach and a counselling expert, who volunteered to be a part of the team of psychologists to counsel the school’s students and their parents, said most of them were worried about a repeat. “They accused the school administration for failing to ensure security on premises. They had many questions — why was there no bolt and lock in the students’ washroom? Why was there no frisking or checking of ID cards at the entrance?” she said.

SAFETY MEASURES

After protests by parents, a few safety steps were taken. “After the incident, overnight, more CCTV and security guards were added for increased safety. Metal detectors were installed to frisk those entering the school,” said a school official.

Eventually, the boundary wall, which was broken, was also constructed.

Almost a week after the incident, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) issued new security guidelines to be implemented by affiliated institutions, failing which they would be derecognised. The board mandated safety audits, installation of CCTV cameras, police verification, psychometric evaluation and the constitution of parent-teacher-student committees. It said access to school buildings by outsiders should be controlled and visitors, monitored.

Other schools in Gurugram and the rest of the country followed suit. They beefed up security by adding CCTV cameras and restricting outsiders from entering the premises.

Sudha Goyal, the director of Scottish High International School in Sushant Lok, said, “The school has been a part of various government audits. We augmented security at the peripheries, increased camera surveillance and hired additional resident doctors and nurses. The school also holds frequent counseling for students and the staff.”

Shiv Nadar School in DLF Phase-1 has mandated parents and guardians to carry a pass while dropping and picking up their wards.

A DEEP CHASM

Teachers in schools across the city said the incident led to a chasm between schools and parents, and it has taken them almost a year to fill it. “The incident led to unrest deep in our hearts and minds. It caused a drift among the stakeholders and within each of us. The incident was a source of deep pain that caused damage beyond repair,” said Neeti Kaushik, principal of Mount Olympus School in Sector 47.

In the last one year, regulatory measures have been put in place by state departments. District-level audit teams have been formed to conduct audits of schools and most private schools in the city have started taking steps to train their staff and students to keep a vigil and monitor any concern.

Smriti Chabra, a member of the safety committee that was set up in the district after the incident, said schools have been regularly sharing updates on all and any type of safety controls being added to the system. “Parents are informed about any hiring of lady guards for buses, training of their support staff or tightening movement of parents in the school during working days/parent-teacher meets. Clear barricading of out-of-bounds areas for kids and visitors is seen in the schools,” she said.

But parents still have questions and doubts. Tripti Singh, a resident of Sector 61, said, “Private cabs and autos still take children in large numbers with complete impunity. We see school buses without any name. All the changes after the incident seem like eyewash.”

Some believe creating safe spaces for children to learn and grow is a long haul. Ruchika Sethi, a parent in Gurugram, said firstly parents need to work on preventing such incidents. “That requires efforts on the ground level, working with a multipronged approach focused on empowering the parents, teaching children skills of personal safety and taking responsibility as adults,” she said, adding mere tokenism wouldn’t work.

Neela Kaushik, a Gurugram-based parent and the founder of the Facebook group Gurgaon Moms, said that for any effective change, the whole system needs to be addressed. “For a change to happen, the largest and biggest stakeholder — the parents — need to become more vigilant. They need to raise their voices in places where it really matters and this will help change things for our children,” she said.