Seeing the recent instances of crimes in schools of rape and murder, I request the government to come up with law to enforce a security audit of every school by 3rd party agencies.

Without clearance on security audits the schools should not be allowed to operate. This audit should happen every quarter without the knowledge of school, and the report should be made public for every school.

As parents, we should be making sure that we look for schools with this audit done, and should boycott schools which do not comply with the security standards.

Few suggestions for basic measures to be taken by Local Authority/ Management of schools, to minimize the instances of crimes till this audit/law comes in place:

1) Make sure all the entry points to school are guarded with good security

2) Metal detectors at all entry points. No once should be allowed to carry sharp metals or any other form of weapons

3) Toilets should be made mandatory in classrooms

4) All the staff of the school including Non-Teaching staff (Including the agencies which work for schools like bus operator, cleaning staff, security staff ) should be given training every quarter on Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) and the real cases where the punishment is given to the guilty. This should be mandatory for staff without which they can be terminated. Also, schools not performing this activity should be losing the recognition.

5) Make sure all places are covered by CCTV cameras and the feed is monitored continuously by dedicated staff.

6) Having a doctor in school who is trained to take care of emergencies with proper instruments needed.

7) Teaching basic safety rules for sexual abuse for kids/teachers starting from the entry level by trained counselors.

I request all concerned people, especially parents in society to come together and lets make our kids safe in schools and at homes.

Thank You,

Saurabh

(A concerned parent of two school going kids)